MARGAO
The Chinchinim Primary Health Centre has pointed out that it was granted permission by the Education Department to house the rural medical dispensary at the Government Primary School, Carmona, on condition that the school premises should be kept clean and well maintained and also that no damage should be caused to the school premises or school property.
Chinchinim Primary Health Officer, Dr Nixon Fernandes, has said the PHC has started locking the gate after the Carmona village panchayat replied that no permission has been sought by them for conducting any activities in the compound and that the PHC would lock the premises after the working hours.
Referring to protests from some quarters because the PHC is locking the gates and there is a claim that the PHC have no right to lock the gates when it has been allotted only a couple of rooms of the building, Dr Nixon counterargued by saying those raising a hue and cry at present cannot expect the Health Department to maintain/service the ‘community latrines’, to repair damage to the infrastructure or to clear garbage from the compound on a regular basis when the premises are being utilized for various other purposes.
Dr Nixon said the PHC has already informed the Carmona Panchayat, Zilla Panchayat and the Education Department that the PHC shall continue to lock the gates until further clarity is made available on a host of points, including the point that the department wanting the place to be used as a play area, jogging track, etc. after our working hours (9 am to 1 pm & 2pm to 4.30 pm on week days and 9 am to 1 pm on Saturdays), should also appoint a caretaker to ensure that proper decorum is maintained during that period and ensure that government property is not vandalised.
“The compound should also be cleared of any garbage or litter after the above activities. It should be decided well in advance, who (which department) shall carry out the repairs, in case of damage to government property. Whosoever wants to light up the place as it was done in the past during the festival season, should ensure that power is not illegally tapped from the adjacent electricity pole because it ends up making my office an accomplice to the power theft that was being committed. The department wanting the ‘community latrines’ to be used by the public, should also make arrangements to regularly service and maintain these latrines. They will also have to provide electricity and water connections to these latrines”, Dr Nixon said.
