Chhattisgarh is one of India’s fastest developing states, especially in the healthcare sector. In the last 15 years, the number of district hospitals has increased from 7 to 24, community health centres from 114 to 155, primary health centres from 512 to 790 and sub-health centres from 3,818 to 5,186, all thanks to the current government
Bijapur is one of the newly formed districts of Chhattisgarh and is a great example of how far healthcare has progressed in the state. Created in 2007, the district is part of the Red Corridor – the area of India which has experienced Naxalite-Maoist activity. Another problem that has affected Bijapur in the past was that of inadequate healthcare. The locals, mostly tribals, had to travel more than 160 km to get to the nearest hospital, that too in neighbouring Jagdalpur.
However, this changed in 2016 when Bijapur got a new District collector – Ayyaj Tamboli. He is a former doctor himself and after seeing the terrible condition of the district hospital he set about revamping it. His first course of action was to improve the infrastructure of the hospital. Operation theatres, a new ICU, 150-bed facility, blood bank and dedicated child healthcare units were setup along with the required machinery. Now all that was needed to complete the job was to hire willing doctors and other staff.
To do this, Ayyaj Tamboli used the power of social media.
“I am Dr Ayyaj, a medical graduate who joined an Indian Administrative Service. Currently working as district collector, Bijapur (Chhattisgarh). My district is predominantly tribal, densely forested and Naxal-affected…We are developing district hospital as a state-of-art facility. Need post-graduate doctors and general duty doctors. Specially looking for radio(logists), anaesthesia and paed(iatrician)s. Other disciplines are also welcomed.”
This was the post he shared on platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp and the response his plea got was phenomenal. Doctors from all over India, especially the neighbouring states of Telangana, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh started responding to the SOS message. Naturally they were sceptical of moving to the Naxal affected area and had a lot of queries.
To allay their concerns, the new district collector offered the doctors salaries either on par or more than those offered in urban areas. According to sources, salaries two and a half to three times more than other places were offered. Other incentives such as free housing were also promised as well as employment for spouses and admissions in good schools for their children. These attractions were enough to motivate doctors to apply to work in the district hospital. In a matter of days, Ayyaj Tamboli started receiving resumes both from doctors and other support staff. In total, 116 responses were recorded – 50 from specialists and 66 from general practitioners. Most of the doctors did visit Bijapur and the district hospital to check out the conditions before moving there and they were largely satisfied. The state-of-the-art equipment and facilities at the revamped district hospital finally had the workers it needed to do justice to it.
This was a major relief for the locals. The lack of staff at the district hospital had led to numerous maternal and child birth deaths which could have been easily avoided. Even for minor illnesses the local residents had to travel long distances. Now there is finally a dedicated 24x7 provision for child birth in the district hospital, along with other crucial facilities like dialysis and vaccination. In fact, some people even say the facilities at the district hospital are better than some private hospitals.
This amazing transformation hasn’t gone unnoticed in the country. The Bijapur District Hospital has won second prize at the 2017-18 Kayakalp awards for health facilities instituted by the National Health Mission, with a cash prize of ₹20 Lakhs. In 2017-18, the hospital treated close to 1 lakh patients. During this time, 1200 child birth cases were handled out of which 199 were caesarean surgeries. 2000 other operations including laparoscopic surgery were also conducted for free. Radiology and physiotherapy are also free services here. The success story of Bijapur has led to authorities using the same blueprint to address the shortage of doctors and good hospitals in other Naxal-affected areas of the state.
The complete makeover of Bijapur’s district hospital is a major achievement made possible due to the determined efforts of the entire administration team. This proves that with dedication anything is possible and it’s an example that should be followed throughout India, across not just the healthcare sector but in other fields as well.