In a first Mamata blocks route to Pvt hospitals’ profiteering
KOLKATA: In a first ever, even in a national scale, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rudely blocked up big Private Hospitals’ route to limitless profiteering at the cost of “patients and everyone.’’
As she voiced what many believe “actually the people’s accumulating anger and angst against medical treatment and its often manipulated costs and omissions and commissions, she placed her back as most popular leader in Bengal,’’ said a political commentator.
It was Wednesday afternoon, she called all big private hospitals’ bosses and exposed them brutally “much the way they financially strip poor, rich and unhappy people.’’One of my MPs was in a private hospital, and the bill was Rs 35 lakh. Please do not force me to open my mouth,’’ Mamata warned the embarrassed private hospital bosses.
You have turned hospitals into slaughter houses. You have been manipulating bills, repetitively high charges by private doctors, useless tests which only add to your profit and do no good to patients.’’Vowing that she would put them through a tough check and balance, she promised to pass a legislation which would do that.
Hundred percent profiteering is sacrilege in a poor country like India and West Bengal, we will not tolerate the trend,’’ angry Mamata told her audience. In a first ever, from the office of Chief Minister, she challenged the basis of market economy and reform-driven system where either you get subsidy or pay the price or you perish,’’ agreed a Calcutta Professor.
Though it’s not known if her aggressive and brutal attack on profiteering in hospitals can change their way, “but they have understood here is a Government which will not tolerate their ways and what was more she took the people with her,’’ added a politician saying, “we have Oppositions who do not open up their eyes.’’
She even warned a private hospital boss when he said “madam the problem comes up with trained nurses leaving our hospital and joining highly paid state government jobs.’’ Why do not you pay them high salaries so they do not go.” She told them bluntly.
Incidentally, she condemned all political parties, including hers whoever uses “destroy them, crushed them to dusts,’’ recently, and now came “people’s reply (from CM’s mouth) to profiteering private hospitals at the cost of people,’’ would call for a serious analysis by her party as to which way she would prefer to keep the people happy, feel political analyists.
Reforms and growth should not be at the cost of poor or people,’’ said a Calcutta University professor.
