Narmadapuram (Madhya Pradesh): The district hospital in Narmadapuram is erratically functioning. The situation has come to such a pass that some employees celebrate their birthday by playing drums and the doctors on duty dance to drum beats.

On the other hand, newborns and their mothers, and other patients suffering from various diseases are scared of thinking about their fate.  An alleged irregularity related to a money transaction between a doctor and the attendant of a patient cropped up. Birthday celebrations on the campus continued till late Sunday night.

A few people informed the councillor of ward number six, Rajendra Upadhyay. Upadhyay in turn informed the city Kotwali. Night duty officer at the Kotwali, ASI Gopal Pal, sent a police team to the hospital. The team removed drummers from the hospital. Then a villager from Seoni Malwa brought his ailing mother to the district hospital. There are allegations that a doctor demanded Rs 1,000 from the man to refer the patient to another hospital.

When the doctor allegedly demanded money, there was a dispute between the doctor and the youth. When Upadhyay came to know of the incident, he helped the elderly woman for treatment. On Monday morning, the son of the elderly woman Ramniwas Prajapati, resident of Kotla village, Seoni Malwa, informed the civil surgeon about the incident. Prajapati said he had brought his mother from Seoni Malwa hospital to the district hospital, because his mother’s health was deteriorating.

The doctor on duty demanded Rs 1,000 from him, saying that his mother’s condition was so serious that she had to be taken to Bhopal. As he belongs to a poor family, he offered Rs 500 to the doctor, but when he did not accept that amount, Prajapati gave Rs 1,000 to the doctor concerned, he said. He also alleged that after a while, the doctor told him that as he (Prajapati) had taken back Rs 500 he would not prepare any papers. The doctor then had beaten up the youth and abused him, Prajapati alleged. 

The doctor was in a drunken state and celebrated the birthday of the compounder by dancing to drum beats, he said. The celebrations continued till 1am and the patients were facing problems, Prajapati added. According to Upadhyay, the patients are in a bad state in the hospital, for they do not get proper attention from the doctors and medical staff.  Upadhyay said that he had informed the legislator Sitasaran Sharma and MLA’s representative Piyush Sharma. The incidents have put a question mark on the functioning of the district hospital.