Qaiser Dar
Srinagar 31 May (KNB): Several residents of Central Kashmir’s Batamaloo on Monday demanded removal of a Zonal Medical Officer (ZMO) posted at Primary Health Care (PHC) centre located in New Colony of the area.
Locals of the area reached out news agency Kashmir News Bureau (KNB) and alleged that the ZMO, Doctor Sameena is incompetent to conduct her duty and should be removed from the Centre.
“She has to prioritize the residents of Batamaloo for any health services, but instead she has been prioritizing people either she has some type of relations with or the ones with a higher approach,” a resident of the area said on the basis of anonymity.
She added that whenever anyone raises a genuine concern or asks about any issue, she responds, “Who am I here? I am nobody and can’t do anything.”
She said, “She (ZMO) has no professionalism, does not even know how to speak with a person visiting the health centre.”
“If any female has any health related problems and approaches her with the queries, She (ZMO) refers her to another doctor (male) at the centre and doesn’t even listen to her,” she said, adding, “I am an uneducated person, she is a doctor; there ought to be a difference in the behaviour but unfortunately she is always rude and disrespectful and eventually we have to show restrain.”
She said that locals of Batamaloo are facing immense difficulties because of the ZMO.
“Recently, an aged person went to get himself vaccinated at the PHC and trust me, he came back disappointed after waiting for around 2 hours there,” she added.
Furthermore, she alleged that back door vaccinations have also taken place at the PHC.
“Staff on vaccination duty were sent to certain people’s homes to provide them the dose and at times the jab was given in private chambers on priority basis to others while those waiting in the queue at the PHC were told that the PHC was out of vaccines,” she said. “Who is going to step up against such illegal activities?” she asked.
“If the authorities can’t look into this crucial matter and address the genuine concerns of the people, then the locals of the area are left with no choice than to stage a protest,” she said, adding that they are willing to take any stand against the ZMO.
Moreover, another local told KNB that vaccination certificates were provided to a couple of people even though they had not even taken the jab.
“A young boy had brought her parents to the PHC for vaccinations but without even taking the jab, their vaccination certificates were already made,” she said, adding that the boy had reached out to authorities regarding the matter though a video posted on social media platform Facebook, which went viral quite some time ago.
Another local told KNB, “She (ZMO) conducted vaccinations in a van and doesn’t even have good terms with her staff let alone her behaviour towards the people visiting the centre.”
“The PHC is a complete mess because of her,” he added.
“We had filed a written complaint against her and at the Mayor of Srinagar’s office we gave it to the Director Health Kashmir in person and since then around 20 days have passed but still no action or investigation into the matter has been done,” he added.
Kashmir News Bureau contacted ZMO, Dr Sameena, who refuted all the allegations.
“I know who is doing this! One of the ex-staff members, whose husband is in the media,” she said, adding that the ex-staff member was attached at the PHC but never performed her duty well.
“She abused my in-charge Medical Officer once and was also misleading other staff members,” she said, adding, “Eventually, on a complaint basis, I transferred her to a health centre in Lasjan, her original place of posting.”
“This is the reason behind all this hue and cry,” she said.
Regarding the alleged backdoor vaccinations taking place at the PHC, she said, “because of these allegations only, I have already shifted all the vaccine related procedures to a nearby Boys Middle School Batamaloo. Otherwise I wanted to continue it at the Centre cause the doctors were available here.”
About inappropriate behaviour against the people visiting the PHC for vaccinations and other treatment, the ZMO refuted the claims and said, “I deserve to know who are these people I have misbehaved with.”
“Regarding these complaints, you can talk to the Chief Medical Officer, Srinagar,” she said.
Moreover, the news agency Kashmir News Bureau made several attempts to contact CMO Srinagar, Dr Jameel, who did not respond to our calls. (KNB)