<p>In 2008-09, a general hospital had been sanctioned at Ippadi. All the village members collected a sum of Rs one lakh and deposited the amount in the Taluk Health Safety Committee account on October 30, 2008 for the construction of the hospital.<br /><br />Later on, two acres and 20 gunta land was identified in village survey no 282 and was handed over to the District Health and Family Welfare Department through the Revenue Department for the construction of the proposed hospital. By the time the new hospital would be ready, the villagers appealed to the Health Department officials to make some temporary arrangements to run the hospital elsewhere.<br /><br />The Health Department forwarded the proposal to the Gram Panchayat. The Gram Panchayat members convened a meeting and decided to hand over the old Gram Panchayat office building into a makeshift hospital. The old building is adjacent to the new building of the Gram Panchayat, where its office has now been shifted.<br /><br />The old building was cleaned and spruced up to host the hospital, but, doctors and staff were never appointed at the makeshift venue. It is almost a year since the old Gram Panchayat building was handed over to the Health Department and the Department is yet to wake up from its slumber and activate the hospital at the temporary venue.<br /><br />Surrounding villages<br /><br />With medical help not available in their village, the members are forced to seek treatment from the hospitals at Santhepete, Kempanahalli or Kunigal, which are far-off atleast by a minimum of 10 km. <br /><br />Almost every effort in getting the hospital start has gone in vain. The villagers have approached all the elected representatives in this regard but it has failed to deliver results.<br /><br />Neither the construction of a new hospital has begun, nor the makeshift hospital has started functioning. The villagers are in a fix, in case of medical emergencies. “We are on tenterhooks when it comes to hospitalising patients. We have to travel a lot even to reach the nearest destination in search of hospitals,” explains a villager. Is anybody listening?<br /> </p>
<p>In 2008-09, a general hospital had been sanctioned at Ippadi. All the village members collected a sum of Rs one lakh and deposited the amount in the Taluk Health Safety Committee account on October 30, 2008 for the construction of the hospital.<br /><br />Later on, two acres and 20 gunta land was identified in village survey no 282 and was handed over to the District Health and Family Welfare Department through the Revenue Department for the construction of the proposed hospital. By the time the new hospital would be ready, the villagers appealed to the Health Department officials to make some temporary arrangements to run the hospital elsewhere.<br /><br />The Health Department forwarded the proposal to the Gram Panchayat. The Gram Panchayat members convened a meeting and decided to hand over the old Gram Panchayat office building into a makeshift hospital. The old building is adjacent to the new building of the Gram Panchayat, where its office has now been shifted.<br /><br />The old building was cleaned and spruced up to host the hospital, but, doctors and staff were never appointed at the makeshift venue. It is almost a year since the old Gram Panchayat building was handed over to the Health Department and the Department is yet to wake up from its slumber and activate the hospital at the temporary venue.<br /><br />Surrounding villages<br /><br />With medical help not available in their village, the members are forced to seek treatment from the hospitals at Santhepete, Kempanahalli or Kunigal, which are far-off atleast by a minimum of 10 km. <br /><br />Almost every effort in getting the hospital start has gone in vain. The villagers have approached all the elected representatives in this regard but it has failed to deliver results.<br /><br />Neither the construction of a new hospital has begun, nor the makeshift hospital has started functioning. The villagers are in a fix, in case of medical emergencies. “We are on tenterhooks when it comes to hospitalising patients. We have to travel a lot even to reach the nearest destination in search of hospitals,” explains a villager. Is anybody listening?<br /> </p>
