Capt govt all set to wash hands of rural healthcare

Vishav Bharti
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 20

If the SAD-BJP alliance, in order to generate revenue, sold hospital and prison land during its 10-year rule, the Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in Punjab now is all set to hand over hundreds of government healthcare institutions in rural areas to private players.

Through a public notice, the Punjab Health Department has invited expression of interest from private doctors and hospitals to run rural primary health centres, community health centres and urban community health centres. The notice reads: “The department is looking for private party(ies) to run some of these health institutions in public-private partnership (PPP).”

Besides buildings, which were raised at huge costs, the government will hand over furniture and equipment to private parties. “The selected party(ies) would be required to deploy requisite staff, run and maintain the institution for a fixed tenure. The government would fix charges for various services which can be recovered from patients.”

Revenue deficit, if any, would be met by the state government by way of an annual grant. Parties or doctors already running private health institutions as also group of doctors are eligible for submitting bids.

The Punjab Civil Medical Services Association has strongly opposed the move. “These buildings were built in the Sixties and Seventies through public money and are not private estates. The Chief Minister and Health Minister want to make way for ‘plunderers’ who will fleece the rural poor,” said Dr Gagandeep Singh, association president. 

“Public-private partnership (PPP) means the government will wash its hands of rural healthcare, allowing big corporate chains to use these centres as patient recruitment agencies. We won’t let this happen,” he warned.

Public health activist and a former Registrar of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences Dr Pyare Lal Garg said already the government had failed to provide Emergency services and specialists in rural centres, which cater to a population of 1.73 crore. “Now it wants to deprive them of healthcare infrastructure too.”