Jharkhand146;s 145;cold chain146; project lies dead

It was launched as an ambitious scheme by the Madhu Koda Government to take public health programme...

It was launched as an ambitious scheme by the Madhu Koda Government to take public health programme to remote areas of Jharkhand, creating a cold chain. Two years later, this is also being put forth as one of the success stories of the Jharkhand Government. The facts, however, tell a different story. The project seems to have suffered from official apathy, misappropriation of funds and theft of public property, causing a huge loss to the state treasury.

The installation of solar equipment in 257 Public Health Centres PHCs in the state where 25,000 out of a total of 32,000 villages are yet to be electrified, was part of Rs 50-crore project of the state Government with the Union Ministry of Health contributing Rs 10 crore. Its aim was to develop a cold chain, especially in non-electrified villages of the state. But an FIR filed by in-charge of PHCs D N Singh at the Namum police station here on May 28, 2007, indicates that the project has gone awry.

The FIR states: 8220;The plates of the solar panel of the freezer and carrier that were fixed on top of the PHC8217;s at Namum building went missing. It is suspected to be a case of theft.8221;

The PHC8217;s employee Sanjiv Kumar, who is supposed to operate the equipment, clarifies: 8220;Since power cuts are a routine in our area, both freezer and carrier were reduced to junk. We are using them to carry the vials of expired vaccines.8221;

At the Budu PHC, its in-charge Pankaj Kumar told The Indian Express that after the solar panel was damaged, the erratic power supply with extreme low voltage was causing a big problem in operating the equipment. 8220;For all practical purposes, the solar equipment was dead,8221; he said.

The purchase order was placed by the Jharkhand Health Society JHS, a body of the state Government, for supply, installation, testing and commissioning of these solar equipment on M/S Burke Products BP, Ohio, USA. Subsequently, the company8217;s partner Burke Producs India BPI opened its service division here to 8220;keep an eye on the performance of the equipment and attending complaints in shortest possible time-frame8221; during 2005-06.

Today, 77 PHCs across the state have complained to the state Health Department that solar panels are non- functional. In response, BPI8217;s Ranchi-based Administrator Sanjay Jaiswal in his July 26, 2006 letter to the state Regional Health Officer puts the blame on Health Department employees who were supposed to follow instructions pasted on each equipment.

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The Government, however, claims the cold chain project has 8220;helped achieve our target of vaccination8221;. 8220;Three lakh children were administered polio vaccination with the utilisation of these solar power freezers and carriers in nine districts in 2006,8221; states a booklet circulated by the state Health Department.