Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Shillong: A three-year-old child from Domkyrkoh village died in his mother’s arms. The parents trekked for nearly three hours to reach a motorable road. They were seeking medical care for the ailing infant. The child was dead upon arrival at the health facility. Health Minister Wailadmiki Shylla blamed the tragedy on poor road connectivity. He denied any departmental shortcoming regarding health services.
Shylla said the family failed to contact local health officials or their Accredited Social Health Activist worker. This lack of communication prevented the use of the Chief Minister’s Safe Motherhood Scheme transport. The minister ruled out a formal departmental inquiry. However, a team will visit the family to verify the facts. A separate multi-disciplinary health team plans to inspect the village on October 6.
The government is launching a study to map medical facility distribution. The goal is to shorten the distance villagers travel for help. Shylla acknowledged the difficulty of rural access. “Now we are coming up with a study regarding the presence of medical facilities, to make sure that villagers should not travel very far to reach services,” the minister said. He also proposed deploying 4x4 ambulances to navigate difficult terrain where standard vehicles fail.
The West Khasi Hills district administration is gathering reports from the Block Development Officer, District Medical and Health Officer, and the Executive Engineer for the PWD. Records show Domkyrkoh sits roughly 90 minutes on foot from the Mawkhiat Sub-Centre. PWD Minister Prestone Tynsong noted that the state is working to connect isolated habitations. A 10-kilometer road project connecting the village to the Rambrai-Mawrok PMGSY route has received sanction under the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund.
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