Medicines (Representational Image)

Bandipora, Jul 31: The expired medicines worth lakhs of rupees have been allegedly dumped in washrooms at New Type of Primary Health Center (NTPHC) in Bagtore village of Gurez.

Expired medicines, including Tab. Iron Folic Acid, Tab. Cefuroxime 500, Tab. Folic Acid, and Tab. Acetylcystine was discarded in the hospital washroom to conceal the hospital’s wrongdoing.

“We have to suffer for every single tablet here. In Gurez, the women mostly face iron deficiency, but the authorities prefer expiring the medicines instead of providing it to the people,” Aijaz Ahmad, a local resident said.

He appealed to the district administration Bandipora and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to investigate the matter and take action against the doctors, who are found involved in this practice.

In border areas of Kashmir, the people have been demanding better health care facilities for a long while several protests have been witnessed in the past, but according to them, their voices went unheard.

The locals alleged that the shortage of medicines in these border areas forces them to travel 80 km for the want of a normal medicine, but at the same time, the medicines are not provided to the people here, which exposes the seriousness of the administration in ensuring better healthcare facilities.

In Kashmir valley, around 66 percent women are facing anaemic deficiency while a huge number of such women belong to the border areas.

Meanwhile, an official said that the hospital administration has stored the medicines in a non-functional washroom until it could be properly disposed of.(KNO)