Ours is a country of 1.2 billion people of which nearly a third are estimated to be below poverty line. Supreme Court in 2007 issued orders to the private hospitals in Delhi, that are built on land given at concessional rates, to reserve 10% of their total beds for below poverty line people. Today there are 43 such hospitals and although many of them are doing a great job, there are some hospitals that try getting away from their responsibilities.
Recently when we visited a very famous hospital in south Delhi, a man belonging to a poor family was struggling to get his mother admitted. The familywas from Jaipur and the hospitals there had recommended them an expensive operation. His mother, a heart patient was in great pain and was first made to lie on a bed. Later, when the hospital realized that she was a patient belonging to the EWS category, she was rudely asked to empty the bedand sit on a chair instead. Her son repeatedly tried to speak to the Medical Superintendent-cum-Nodal Officer who clearly didn’t seem to bother and kept telling the man to meet him later.
The man and his mother waited in the hospital from 9 in the morning till 8 in the evening just to be given a few medicines and an appointment after 15 days. There was no separate EWS help counter and not even a single person to help.
The private hospitals, like the one mentioned in the above case,are of the viewthat they are doing a favor to the society by allocating free beds for the underprivileged. But, they fail to see that the beds are “free” because the government, at concessional rates, gave them the land. So, private hospitals have already benefited and are still benefiting out of what that has been, in a way, paid/given to them by the government. However, they still deny the EWS patients, make them wait for hours before admitting them and create all sorts of confusion in their minds by manipulating with the vulnerability of their situations, e.g., asking for documents at the time of admission, which according to the supreme court is not at all necessary.
A huge hospital that earns in lakhs a day should, and must, anyway be doing its part for the betterment of the society. However, private hospitals denying free treatment to the EWS is similar to charging money from a customer and not providing the services for it. But, as we mentioned before, we do acknowledge that there are many hospitals that are doing exceptionally well and are responsible for the increasing number of people who have benefitted from the free beds scheme. Ganga Ram Hospital, KottakalAryaVaidshala, Flt. Lt RajanDhall Hospital, Venu Eye Institute & Research Centre, are a few to name.
