A free government health centre has come up near the Biswa Bangla convention centre in New Town.

Travelling from Rabindra Tirtha, one needs to take a right turn from the canal along with the convention centre. After the Presidency University campus and DPS New Town, the Utility Building of Action Area 1D will appear. The health centre is on the first floor here.

“Residents of New Town have had a long-standing demand to be integrated into the state’s health network and we have finally managed it with this centre,” said Debashis Sen, chairman of New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) at the opening on March 1.

While the health department has provided the logistics such as equipment, medicines and manpower, NKDA has provided the infrastructure of the facility.

The space is roughly 4,000sq ft and has an outdoor patient department (OPD), dispensary, pathology lab to conduct routine blood tests, immunisation room, observation and dressing room besides a registration office, doctors’ rest room and toilets.

Physician Arnab Ray and two nurses will be on duty from 9am to 2pm Monday to Friday. No emergency cases will be tended to.

“We have to send the health department reports on matters such as dengue and vector-borne diseases in New Town and now such information can be collated at this centre,” said Sen, adding that NKDA also runs clinics at Eco Park and Swapno Bhor senior citizen’s park.

“Besides residents, this centre can be of use to village folk who live nearby as well as auto drivers, security guards etc. working here. We shall put up signboards on the roads to direct people here,” Sen said.

The centre will soon start a system of e-prescriptions. The doctor will upload the patient’s reports to a computerised network, from where the prescription will automatically go to the dispensary for the medicines to be despatched. “Even if the patient loses the prescription in future the doctor will be able to refer to his past records through the network,” explained Sen. “We shall also try to get specialists at this centre later.”

While the new facility is a primary health centre, NKDA is preparing to build a full-fledged centre under the health department near New Town Business Club.