In Odisha hospital, doctors are forced to treat the patients in the dark.
A doctor treats his patients inside a dark cabin while the relatives and staff members hold candles and flashlights in their hands - a situation that has become regular at a government hospital in Odisha. With constant power cuts, low voltage and absence of generator back-up system, the doctors are forced to treat patients, including the critical ones, in the dark. The doctors at the Mayurbhanj's Raruan block hospital, 300 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, are demanding constant power supply and more staff members.
"I see 180-200 patients daily. There is an acute power crisis here. When the patients come, I have to see them, with or without electricity," Dr Dakhina Ranjan Tudu told news agency ANI.
"Even if there is electricity, the available machines cannot be used as the voltage is very low. Their machineries are getting damaged as they are hardly put to use," the doctor said.
With increasing number of patients, the hospital is also facing shortage of doctors.
"For the sake of patients, it is necessary to draw the government's attention to the hospital's plight. We need transformers, emergency lights, power back-ups and more doctors," Dr Tudu said.
(With inputs from ANI)