Protests in Govandi against BMC's move to private hospitals, demand for better facilities
This comes after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to partially privatise six hospitals in Mumbai under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model and issued tenders to the hospitals.
About 150 to 200 people including progressive youth groups, doctors, political activists and resident associations staged a large-scale protest under the umbrella of the 'Save Hospital, Stop Privatisation' action committee alongside the residents of M-East ward (including Govandi, Deonar, Mankhurd, Shivaji Nagar, Cheetah Camp and a part of Chembur) starting at Lallubhai compound in Mankhurd, moving up to the ward office in Govandi.
With nearly 80% of the population living in slums, the underprivileged residents of the ward depend on Lallubhai Compound Multispeciality and Shatabdi hospitals in Govandi for their treatment. 'The majority of the citizens of the M-East division live in slums, and do not even have regular nutritious food supply. In this context, effective government public health services become a matter of life and death,' said Baban Thake, Mumbai coordinator of Revolutionary workers party of India, a part of the committee.
The committee demanded that the corporation scrap the tenders. They also demanded to increase the functionality of ICUs and NICUs in maternity homes within 30 days, start the services of Maharashtra Nagar Maternity Home immediately and also set up free diagnostic centres within the next one month. The committee also suggested that the corporation to organise monthly meetings to address public grievances.
Many residents who participated in the protest were affected personally by the lack of healthcare in the region. Kavitha Modliyar, a resident of Mankhurd, said, 'The laboratories are not functional, there are no beds or staff members, none of the hospitals have medications. With further privatisation, the costs will only increase. How are we supposed to pay for this? The poor will only die going forward.'
'Shockingly, life expectancy here is just 39 years here, owing to the maternal deaths, malnourishment, Tuberculosis cases, respiratory illnesses such as asthma induced by the Deonar dumping ground,' said Thake.
The group shouted slogans such as 'Stop Privatisation of Hospitals! Hospitals are for public need! Not for corporate greed!' walking towards the ward office with passersby joining in. After reaching the ward office, the protestors waited outside the office for two hours, demanding to speak to the additional municipal commissioner of health vehemently and put forward their demands.
The BMC on March 5, released a tender to privatise Lallubhai hospital's operations. On June 13, a similar tender was issued to Shatabdi hospital, including a plan to introduce a 100-seat private medical college in the hospital.
According to the tenders issued in March, Shatabdi hospital and medical college, currently with 581 beds, will be run by a private entity with 70% beds reserved for patients paying for their treatment and only 30% for patients referred by the corporation at 'concessional rates'. For Lallubhai Compound Multispeciality Hospital, the 410-bed hospital is proposed to be handed over to a private institution on a PPP basis, with only 150 beds reserved for the patients of the Municipal Corporation, while the remaining 260 beds will be reserved for the economically weaker sections based on possession of an orange or yellow ration card.
Dr. Abhay Shukla, health expert and National co convenor, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, whose Mumbai wing Jan Arogya Abhiyan was present at the scene, said that at present, there are 20 hospitals already under the PPP model in the corporation limits and added, 'These need to be reviewed immediately before deciding to introduce more such models. The hospitals under PPP have doctors on contractual basis with no accountability, nor are they trained to handle the ICU cases. The quality of care is significantly compromised in such hospitals. This is a serious problem that we are challenging. Corporation hospitals can at least be held accountable.'
Additional municipal commissioner Dr Vipin Sharma did not respond to the messages or calls by Hindustan Times.
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