By: A PIB Defence Wing feature
North Cachar Hills District with a population of over two lakha and plagued with endemic problems of malaria is served only by a single district Hospital at Haflong. In the remote interiors where government presence is minimal health care by the state remains a distant dream. In North Cachar there is one doctor serving 5,000 citizens against the national average of one doctor for every 1,722 citizens.
Army in the course of its counter insurgency campaign and mandate to provide environmental security in the District has been reaching out to the remote villages in North Cachar Hills and its medical teams are filling in the health care void. The Army, the largest component amongst the security forces in the District, during the current year alone has organised over 13 medical camps and more than 1800 citizens come daily to the various Army Camps all over the district for medical treatment. Army sources say that medical camps will continue to be a regular feature and they are constrained in their ability to do much more for want of medicine stocks.
The Army Medical Teams have also expressed concern over a large segment of population in certain villages being down with malaria. There has been a large incidence of malaria cases amongst the army personnel too who are operating in the interiors. Reportedly, one of the security force picquets on the Assam-Nagaland border had to be re-located because of high incidence of malaria amongst the troops there.
Army for many villages has been the only signs of government presence in their areas and requests for development projects through memorandums and petitions are often landed and to the Army Patrols by “Gaon Burahs” and citizen committees. The Red Shield Division Troops who are deployed in this area from their own resources have executed over 30 welfare projects valued at 60 Lakhs ranging from provision of solar lights computers for schools children of the district to the cities like Delhi. Pune Bangalore, Hyderabad and Agra have also been organised by the men in uniform. In the current year the Army has an outlay of projects worth Rs One Crore for the development of the region.
In the times of turmoil the people remember the Army and with return of peace and normalcy these men in uniform fade into the background, but the contribution of Red Shield Division in the district would be remembered for long after they have left the Region.