Room for inconvenience

Most of the residents from the strife-hit Jammu and Kashmir,who turn to the city to avail themselves of better health care facilities at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER),are unable to find accommodation in the J&K House,resulting in serious inconvenience to them.

While most of the visitors from the J&K are left high and dry for want of accommodation,the officials at the J&K House claim that they can not provide room to every one visiting the city.

“My wife had undergone a surgery before Eid in September at the PGIMER and when we came here for consultation on October 3,we did not get a room,” said Bashir Ahmed,a resident of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Ahmed had come along with brother-in-law,a school teacher.

“The officials at J&K House showed us even the register and there was no room vacant. We understand that they are helpless but we should have more rooms at the house,” he added. After a lot of leg work,Ahmed managed to get a a room at Panchyat Bhawan in Sector 18.

In fact,the officials of the J&K house admit that they are not able to provide accommodation to every visitor to Chandigarh from the state. The JK House is situated in Sector 5A,Chandigarh,and it has 6 guest rooms and a VIP suite. The state government has also has a building in Sector 17,Chandigarh,comprising 4 floors and a basement,but this has been rented out to Ministry of Labour and Employment Bureau,Government of India.

“We have written many a times to the senior officials for extension of rooms at the J-K House but all in vain,” said the resident representative at J&K House,Veedushi Kapoor. “We understand that people face problem but we cannot do anything about it. Most of our rooms are always booked by the patients from Jammuand Kashmir.”

The people from Jammu and Kashmir often throng Chandigarh for specialised treatment at the PGIMER. But after the Kashmir erupted in turmoil from June,the number of patients visiting the PGIMER had come down. According to PGIMER,681 patients had turned up to the hospital in January this year and in following months up to June,825,930,923,753 and 581 patients visited the hospital respectively.