Tura, Nov 10: Jengjal town in Garo Hills was supposed to transform and become the mecca for hi-tech medical centre, over a year ago, a rare feat in the map of the north east when it came to medical care and most importantly for Garo Hills where there is an urgent requirement for specialist doctors and medical treatment.

A 10-bedded Primary Health Centre (PHC) of the government was to be upgraded and run by specialised doctors from the famed Christian Medical College of Vellore (CMC), which would provide Gynaecologists and paediatricians for mother and child care and also bring in surgeons and other specialised care.

All these were to be provided free of cost to the people of Garo Hills as part of the Conrad K Sangma led MDA government’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode to ensure universal health care at the peoples’ doorstep.But this medical venture that would have given people of Garo Hills the benefit of specialization treatment, which one would otherwise get only after travelling all the way down South India to Apollo in Chennai or CMC Vellore, never took off because a group of people suddenly began demanding land compensation and jobs beyond what was already inked in the agreement by the original land owners.

Leading the protest by claiming to be the head of the Tegite Sangma clan to oppose the handing over of the government Primary Health Centre in Jengjal was a politician of yesteryears ex-GHADC MDC Ronald Momin who along with his close associates fought tooth and nail, even going to the extent of filing a writ petition in the high court and a police FIR against the Vellore doctors currently working in the Seventh Day Adventist Mission nursing home in Jengjal itself.

The bone of contention was that the state government had deceived the clan by handing over the government hospital to privatization and instead of turning it into a 100 bedded hospital it had been reduced to a primary health centre.

Their second grouse was that compensation and jobs were not provided to the relatives of the clan which donated the land.

On Monday, for the first time in the history of Jengjal, the top bureaucrats of the state dealing with health led by Meghalaya Health Minister James Pangsang K Sangma descended on Jengjal to provide firsthand the true picture of the scenario.Accompanying the minister were the top officials of the health ministry in the state, namely Principal Secretary for Health and new Development Commissioner P Sampath Kumar, National Health Mission Director Ram Kumar S, DMHO of West Garo Hills, deputy commissioner Ram Singh and other officials.

The meeting at the premises of the hospital not only clarified all misgivings, but most importantly it punctured holes into the claims of the protestors who have all along been misleading the public by giving false reports which in turn were being uploaded in social media platforms by a few individuals and unreliable youtube channels that were providing one sided stories.

The meeting, which at times witnessed heated arguments and counter arguments by both sides, revealed a clear picture of the actual story.

As the health minister said at the meeting, “This hospital is going to benefit not just the people of Jengjal but the entire Garo Hills region. Instead of opposing, we should welcome such an initiative where specialised doctors from a reputed medical centre in the country such as Vellore are ready to come and provide us with service for which the people do not even need to pay because the government will take care of it.”

The decision of the government to set up such a Sub-divisional referral Hospital at Jengjal is crucial as the location is the centre point to all of Garo Hills.

It is 15 kms from Rari in North Garo Hills, 15 kms from Asanang in West Garo Hills and on the trijunction towards Williamnagar in East Garo Hills.

List of allegations and the reality

The crucial points of the agreement, job recruitment, court case, illegal appointment claims, privatization of government property allegations etc have been pieced together by Hub News after going through the documents of the project and interaction with the senior most bureaucrats of the Health Ministry in the state.

Here are some of the main allegations, almost all unsubstantiated, raised by the ex-MDC Ronald Momin and his group.

*Allegation by Ex-MDC Ronald Momin and his group- It was supposed to be a 100 bedded hospital and run by the government.

Truth– Original proposal was for a 10 bedded Primary Health hospital for which an agreement was made with the Nokma for an initial 45 bighas of land. But for future expansion the size of the land was moved to 75 bighas so that the hospital can be expanded into a CHC and beyond because land may not be available in the future.

To become a 100 bedded hospital it must first become a PHC, upgrade to a CHC and beyond. Even Tura Civil Hospital, despite being the headquarters of Garo Hills, took decades to become a 100 bedded hospital.

*Allegation by Ronald Momin and group that the government has given away the hospital to a private entity-in this case the Seventh Day Adventist Mission.

Truth- The hospital remains with the government and it has been given to the CMC Vellore doctors through the SDA mission to run the Out Patient Department (OPD) on similar terms to other hospitals under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) for five years. In the same way PPPs are successfully happening in other rural hospitals, most notably Bakdil NGO run Babadam and Gabil PHCs where mother and child mortality and malaria death rates have drastically come down.

*Allegation by Ronald Momin and group- We are not against land compensation but oppose handing over of the hospital to Seventh Day Adventist Mission (whose doctors come from Vellore CMC).

Truth– Ronald Momin and others have filed a writ petition in Meghalaya High Court demanding land compensation from the government. A copy of the writ petition is attached in this story.*Allegation by Ronald Momin that the matter is in the high court and sub-judice and no move can be taken to make the hospital operational until the case is disposed of by the court.

Truth– It is not a case but a writ petition. The High Court has not put any stay on the preparation for the hospital to begin functioning.

*Allegation that the government failed to provide jobs to the land owners and kin of the clan.

Truth– As per agreement between the state government and the land donors only two persons are entitled, which is the land owner and a member of his family. However, in this case four persons from the family and clan of the donor have already been given government jobs.

*Allegation by Ex-MDC and his group that more than a dozen illegal appointments have taken place in the hospital.

Truth- No appointments have been given apart from the four persons who belong to the land donors that were recruited.

*Allegation by Ronald Momin and group- The Seventh Day Admission Mission Nursing home currently being run by the CMC Vellore doctors are charging per night 5-6000 rupees for cases.

Truth– The SDA Mission nursing home provides the lowest cost for health care across any private hospital, and in many cases even lower than some government hospitals whose doctors take a fee for certain operations.

The nursing home has been providing underprivileged families who come seeking medical care free of any charge including daily meals and a place to sleep. Most recent case is of a new born baby girl from Ampati region that was born with her internal organs outside her stomach.

The child was nursed back to health and the parents who had no relatives or means were provided free meals and a place to reside for over a month by the doctors. The Vellore Doctors have opened a crowd-funding to generate resources to take the child to Vellore, next year for a delicate operation to put back the organs inside the body.

*Allegation by Ronald Momin that services will not be like a government hospital, there will be no trauma centre, special sections etc.

Truth- Four specialists are already present at Jengjal nursing home who belong to CMC Vellore- Three child specialists or paediatricians and one senior gynaecologist. These doctors are already serving hundreds of patients from across Garo Hills who visit their hospital on a daily basis.

*Allegation that land and job compensation was violated in the agreement with the Nokma.

Truth– Nokma who was present at Monday’s meeting clarified that when he gave the land it was without any preconditions because it was for a hospital that will serve the people of Garo Hills.

*Allegation that SDA nursing home doctors tried to forcibly make the approach road to the hospital by bringing excavators and contractors so an FIR was filed and the doctor arrested.

Truth- The road survey and clearance was undertaken by the engineering wing of the Directorate of Health Services and not by the Nursing Home doctors. The claim that a contractor supervised the road clearing operation was found to be completely untrue. It was in fact the engineer from the health department who was present at the site when threats were issued to them by those opposing the hospital. This was followed by a false FIR against the doctors, endorsed by Ronald Momin, which police did not act on because there was no evidence to back up their claims.

Lastly- The Ex-MDC is heading the opposition to the handing over of the hospital and seeking land compensation.

But, he was never a signatory to the agreement signed between the state government and the land Nokma for handing over of the land for the establishment of the hospital.