Monitoring officer reviews key civic projects in Agasteeswaram taluk
The Monitoring Officer reviewed various sites, including Urban Primary Health centres (UPHCs), corporation's dump yard, coastal hamlets and other development works of the Nagercoil Municipal Corporation.
During his visit to the UPHC in Krishnancoil area, he inquired about the availability of doctors and essential medicines at the centre. The department officials were asked about tests for non communicable disease, including high blood pressure and diabetes, under the scheme 'Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam'.
He also visited Valampuraivilai dump yard, located in the heart of a residential area, an issue of critical concern for the city. Everyday tonnes of wastes from households, hotels and markets under the Corporation limits are being dumped at the site. He directed the Corporation officials to give precedence to public health with bio mining and other waste processing activities at the yard, particularly due to close proximity of residential areas, hospitals and markets.
He also instructed the Corporation officials to expedite installation of suction systems at the Underground Drainage System facilities at the Pattasalianvilai.
He also inspected the construction of 500 metre sea wall along the coastal road of Pottal-Puthanthurai-Pallamthurai at a cost of ₹2.81 crore and the construction of an overhead tank at Thengamputhoor being developed under the AMRUT scheme at a cost of ₹64.68 crore.
The tank with a capacity of around 3 lakh litres will benefit 11,049 households in the area that were added recently to the Nagercoil Municipal Corporation limits.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
T.N.'s health sector: feats and challenges
The story so far: Tamil Nadu has consistently ranked high in the health sector. A robust public health system, 11,000+ institutions at the primary, secondary and tertiary care levels and scores of pioneering schemes have enabled the State to stay ahead in many of its key health indicators. Despite such achievements, the State's health sector is in the midst of a brewing crisis — a crisis fueled by a high number of vacancies, a strained workforce, and a lackadaisical attitude towards long-pending demands of doctors. How has T.N. healthcare fared so far? Over the years, the State has made significant strides in expanding its health infrastructure and improving health outcomes through focussed initiatives and innovative programmes, while prioritising core areas of maternal and child health, and prevention and control of infectious diseases. In particular, it has scaled up interventions targeting non-communicable diseases. Its flagship scheme, 'Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam' (MTM), has taken screening and drug delivery for conditions such as diabetes and hypertension to people's doorsteps, while community-based cancer screening programmes have also taken off. Moreover, the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation streamlines drug procurement and supply for government hospitals; the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (formerly Cadaver Transplant Programme) regulates the process of organ allocation and maintenance of wait lists; and the Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Benefit Scheme provides financial assistance and nutritional support to pregnant women belonging to economically and socially disadvantaged sections. Schemes such as the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme have enabled better access to healthcare, especially for advanced procedures and surgeries such as organ transplants for the poor. What gains have been made? Such focussed measures have enabled the State to steadily bring down its maternal and infant mortality numbers. As per the State's Health Management Information System, the Maternal Mortality Ratio stands at 39.4 per 1,00,000 live births (2024-2025), a dip from 45.5 in 2023-2024, while the Infant Mortality Rate fell from 8.2 per 1,000 live births (2023-2024) to 7.7 in 2024-2025. The under-five mortality rate has also declined from 8.9 (2023-2024) to 8.2 during 2024-2025. On its part, the MTM has demonstrated an improvement in the management of hypertension and diabetes in the State. Among adults with hypertension, the proportion with blood pressure control rose to 17% (previously 7.3%), while among those with diabetes, the proportion with blood sugar control rose to 16.7% (previously 10.8%) respectively. These achievements are the outcomes of a resilient healthcare system that was built brick by brick over decades and stood the test of time during the COVID-19 pandemic. But certain deficiencies have surfaced in the State's public health sector, stemming from failures in addressing the needs of its workforce. What are the unmet needs and gaps? Despite exponential growth in terms of health infrastructure, there has been no proportionate expansion in the workforce. Delay in filling up vacant posts (across different levels) and lack of new posts' creation have left a dent in the sector. The health sector, including at the primary care level, is running the show by redeploying/diverting doctors and staff nurses to various facilities. A crucial cadre of T.N.'s public health system are its Village Health Nurses (VHN), who play a vital role in maternal and child healthcare. As per the latest official data, 2,013 posts of VHNs (of the 8,713 sanctioned) and 1,251 posts of Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (of the 2,057 sanctioned) are lying vacant. There has been an inordinate delay in filling the vacant posts due to legal issues. VHNs spearhead antenatal care, delivery services, post-natal follow-up and immunisation. Instead of serving one village (population of 5,000 to 6,000 as per norms), each VHN is now covering at least two to three villages each. Facing an acute crisis, they have been rising concerns about falling behind in maternal and child healthcare services. On the other hand, there is a growing concern about the shortage and skewed distribution of specialists in the State. Government doctors have been asking for an increase in their workforce as per patient strength, according to norms prescribed by Indian Public Health Standards. Many of them note that there is a huge rise in patient inflow to government hospitals, but no commensurate rise in staffing. In the last four years, the State recruited some 3,500-odd medical officers to its primary healthcare (point of entry) but is yet to address specialist shortfalls at the secondary and tertiary care levels. In particular, there is a huge deficit in super speciality cadre such as for cardiothoracic surgery and vascular surgery. Additionally, contractual recruitments and proposed models for public private partnership in service delivery, such as for haemodialysis, are facing stiff opposition among the existing workforce. For a State like Tamil Nadu, which takes pride in its advanced health infrastructure, a discontent and stretched workforce is detrimental in many ways. It could affect performance, patient outcomes, and public trust.
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Health and Wellness centres inaugurated in Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin inaugurated Primary Health Care centres (PHC), Urban Primary Health Care centre (UPHC) and Wellness centres in Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari district on Thursday. In Thoothukudi, urban wellness centres were inaugurated in Athimarapatti, Caldwell Colony, Silverpuram and Pandarampatti, under the jurisdiction of Thoothukudi corporation at a cost of ₹25 lakh. Similarly, urban wellness centres in Oorani street and Subramaniyapuram under Kovilpatti municipality and Pandagasalai in Kayalpattinam were also inaugurated. Additionally, a PHC constructed at a cost of ₹1.20 crore in Sivagnanapuram village in Vilathikulam union was also inaugurated during the event. In an event held at the Panadagalasalai area of Kayalpattinam, Collector K. Elambahavath lit the ceremonial lamp and distributed nutrition kits to pregnant women. In another event held at Calwell Colony, Minister of Social Welfare and Women Empowerment P. Geetha Jeevan lit the ceremonial lamp and inspected the facilities. Thoothukudi Mayor Jegan Periyasamy and Corporation Commissioner Banoth Murugendar Lal were present. Similarly in Nagercoil Corporation, the Chief Minister has inaugurated a UPHC in Peruvilai at a cost of ₹2.45 crore and five urban wellness centres in Krishnancoil, Housing Board, Puthan Bungalow, Iluppaiyadi Colony and CTM Puram, each at a cost of ₹25 lakh. Kanniyakumari Collector R. Alagumeena, who lit the ceremonial lamp at Peruvilai UPHC, said that around 50,000 people residing in different areas around Peruvilai region would benefit through the UPHC. Nagercoil Corporation Mayor R. Mahesh, Colachel MLA J.G. Prince and other officials were present at the event.
The Hindu
7 days ago
- The Hindu
T.N. Village Health Nurses demand filling up of vacant posts, to stage series of protests
Village Health Nurses (VHN) affiliated with the Tamil Nadu Government All Health Nurses Association have flagged a number of concerns, including a delay in filling the large number of vacant posts, as a result of which their workload has increased manifold. They have also registered their objection to the Health department's move to involve Mid Level Health Providers (MLHP) in immunisation services — one of the key service areas of VHNs — instead of filling the vacancies. On Friday (June 27, 2025), the association members, along with the Doctors Association for Social Equality (DASE), said that they have decided to launch a series of protests to put forward their demands, starting with wearing demand badges till July 2, demonstrations in all district headquarters on July 10, and a fast in Chennai on July 24. There were nearly 4,000 vacant posts of VHNs in the State. As a result, the existing VHNs were covering four villages instead of one each through the Health Sub Centres. This has resulted in heavy workload, and was affecting maternal and child health services, they said in a press release. 'Now, instead of filling the vacant posts, the Directorate of Public and Preventive Medicine is trying to engage MLHPs — 4,848 of them were recruited for Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam — to work in HSCs and take up the immunisation services. It is VHNs who have been carrying out immunisation work for several decades, and this decision is unacceptable,' R. Indhira, founder, Tamil Nadu Government All Health Nurses Association, said. She added that a court case was being cited for not filling up the vacancies. G.R. Ravindranath, general secretary, DASE, said the State government should take steps to expedite the court case and fill the vacancies. He also demanded that the government withdraw its decision to involve big private hospitals to provide immunisation services under the Universal Immunisation Programme. The implementation of Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Benefit Scheme was taking up 80% of the time of the VHNs. As a result, their primary responsibilities in maternal and child health care were being affected. The scheme's implementation should be returned to the Social Welfare department, they demanded.
