Jharsuguda : In a strongly worded press conference held today at a private hotel in Jharsuguda, the District Biju Janata Dal (BJD) took sharp aim at the ruling BJP government, highlighting what it termed as “glaring governance failures” in the fields of healthcare, civic infrastructure, and public welfare.
Party leaders began the session by expressing heartfelt gratitude to District Collector Ms. Aboli Sunil Naravane and Mr. Sunil Gupta, CEO of Vedanta Aluminium, for their instrumental role in the revival of the old District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) in Mangal Bazaar. The facility, now functioning as a Satellite Hospital, was hailed as a lifeline for local patients.
However, the tone quickly turned critical as the BJD contrasted past progress under the late Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik with current stagnation. “While the BJD government established nine new medical colleges across Odisha, the BJP has failed to initiate a single new institution,” the party noted.
Despite Odisha producing 1,150 MBBS graduates annually, district-level health services remain crippled by severe staff shortages. In Jharsuguda alone, 37% of sanctioned medical officer posts are unfilled, and nearly 50% of dental and nursing positions lie vacant.
The BJD cited multiple preventable deaths as evidence of a collapsing healthcare system:
A patient in Kolabira reportedly died due to oxygen shortages.Another lost their life in Bagdihi for want of basic dressing supplies. Six patients died in a single day at Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College in Koraput, exposing systemic failures.
The newly built Cardiac Hospital in Jharsuguda, inaugurated in February 2024 at a cost of ₹45.11 crore, remains non-operational due to pending licenses and the lack of critical care infrastructure. “Critical patients are paying the price for bureaucratic indifference,” the BJD alleged.
Similarly, a Cancer Hospital foundation stone laid in January 2019 has yet to see progress. “The land originally earmarked has been diverted for other purposes, a shocking betrayal of public health priorities,” party spokespersons charged.
The party further criticized the state of civic infrastructure: Of 158 rural projects sanctioned in FY 2023–24, not a single new project has been approved in the current financial year. Of 74 sanctioned posts in the Jharsuguda Municipal Council, only 29 are filled, leading to administrative paralysis. Urban grants have dropped sharply, from ₹49.43 crore last year to ₹24.45 crore this year.
A proposed bridge over the Vedanadi near Hirma, sanctioned under the Biju Setu Yojana, remains incomplete due to funding delays—disrupting both connectivity and local livelihoods.
Despite ₹6.62 crore sanctioned in 2019–20 for the Master Drain construction project, work has not commenced. Seasonal flooding and unsanitary conditions continue to plague large swaths of the municipality.
Piped water supply remains elusive in most areas. Of Jharsuguda’s 24 municipal wards, only 8 receive piped water, forcing residents to depend on erratic water tanker services.
The BJD also raised alarms over rising crime in the district. “Child trafficking, robberies, and violent incidents have surged, while an understaffed police force struggles to maintain law and order,” the party claimed. Public confidence in local policing is at an all-time low.
Symbolic of broader neglect is the fate of the district’s once-celebrated mobile blood collection van. Once praised as a breakthrough, the vehicle now lies abandoned and rusting, affecting emergency medical services.
The BJD concluded by accusing the BJP government of failing to fulfill its high-voltage electoral promises. “From healthcare and water supply to rural roads and education, the people of Jharsuguda—and Odisha as a whole—are being forced to live with broken promises and administrative apathy.”
