Healthcare collapse in Manipur's Twilang, T. Vaichong PHC in Kangpokpi struggles to survive amid neglect

A devastating healthcare crisis is unfolding in the Twilang region of Kangpokpi District, where the Primary Health Centre (PHC) at T. Vaichong is on the verge of total collapse, leaving a population of over 15,000 across 50 villages to endure unimaginable hardship and systemic neglect.

Despite being the only government medical facility catering to the entire region, the PHC has been operating with just four staff members, including a single contractual doctor, for the past two to three years. According to Thanggoulun Kipgen, President of the Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) Twilang Block, this chronic manpower shortage has effectively crippled the healthcare centre.

When the lone doctor is on leave, the PHC is left without any medical personnel. In such dire situations, critically ill patients — including pregnant women and the elderly — are forced to travel more than 35 kilometers to Kangpokpi, often on treacherously broken roads, in search of urgent care.

The road connecting T. Vaichong to Kangpokpi, part of the historic Imphal-Tamenglong State Highway, is in a severely deteriorated state. Pockmarked with potholes, landslide debris, and gaping craters, it poses a significant risk to emergency travel. The combination of this hazardous commute and lack of local treatment has turned every medical emergency into a life-threatening ordeal.

Adding to the community’s distress is the absence of a functional ambulance. The only vehicle allotted to the PHC is currently under repair, leaving patients to rely on costly private transport or unsafe alternatives. The KSO Twilang Block has urgently requested that the government provide an additional ambulance to ensure continuous service delivery.

The PHC infrastructure itself is crumbling. Once built as a beacon of rural health, it now stands as a decaying structure with no hope of revival in sight. The deteriorating conditions reflect a larger narrative of neglect and apathy from administrative and health authorities.

Ironically, despite being flanked by three Assembly constituencies — Tamei, Tadubi, and Kangpokpi — and traversed by the state’s oldest highway, the Twilang region remains an island of abandonment. Basic healthcare and connectivity continue to be elusive dreams for its people.

As if these hardships weren’t enough, the recent floods triggered by incessant rains devastated the area’s fragile infrastructure. Many electric poles and 33KV power lines were washed away, plunging the entire region into a month-long blackout.

Local residents themselves undertook the arduous task of restoring power. With no external aid, they reinstalled poles and rewired damaged networks, eventually restoring electricity. The community-led restoration effort stands as a testament to the unshakable spirit of the Twilang people.

"It is high time the authorities wake up to this catastrophic neglect. The people of Twilang are not asking for luxury they are pleading for their basic right to live,” lamented KSO President Thanggoulun Kipgen, demanding a complete overhaul of the PHC, full staffing, infrastructure upgrades, operational ambulances, all-weather road access, and a dependable power supply.