State Appears Rudely Repressive: Patients under Shadow of Death

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

In yet another display of its rude reaction, the Government of Orissa has asked the District Collectors to use ESMA against the Doctors who go on strike on and with effect from April 18 in protest against official repression.

Health Secretary-in-charge Suresh Chandra Mohapatra has declared that if the Doctors go on strike, the State would run the Hospitals with trained quacks who are branded as Ayush Doctors. They comprise persons practicing Ayurved, Unani and Homeopathy.

Government Hospitals in Orissa are Allopathic Hospitals. Just imagine what is going to happen in Orissa when Ayush Doctors take over.

The Secretary-in-charge has also declared that if the quacks fail to tackle or contribute to acuteness of any illness, the affected patients would be shifted to selected private Hospitals. This is nonsense. The government knows that beds in private Hospitals are too marginal in number to shoulder the number of patients taking treatment in and depending on Government Hospitals. So, it is evident that the assurance to provide the patients with treatment in private Hospitals is impossible. But possible is that the design is drawn to provide a bonanza to private operators of medical care. In that case, the present impasse might have been promoted by the private Hospitals through their commission agents in occupation of political and official posts.

Might be, therefore, the Doctors’ demand for Dynamic Assured Career Progression (DACP), even though it would have acted a correct incentive, is not being heeded to by the Government. Undoubtedly, anarchy is engulfing the health care sector.

Patients, no doubt, are under the shadow of death.

0 comments » Write a comment

Leave a Reply

Required fields are marked *.


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.