"Largest" healthcare scheme? Modi remained mum on how Dr Khaleef Khan of Gorakhpur hospital was framed

Dr Khaleef Khan

By Sheshu Babu*
While speaking on Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced launching of the world's largest healthcare scheme (Ayushman Bharat Yojana), but refused to mention anything about the pathetic medical facilities in hospitals in the country. Recent Gorakhpur incidents are still fresh in peoples' memories.
When children were dying of encephalitis, the doctor in-charge of the ward tried his best to save children by securing oxygen cylinders from private hospitals to fulfill shortage of oxygen. He used his own car and money to see that the supply of oxygen is not stopped. But all his efforts were viewed with suspicion.
An FIR was filed against nine individuals, including Dr Kafeel Khan on August 24, 2017. He was arrested on September 2, 2017 and was removed from his post. However, he got bail on April 24, 2018 from the Allahabad High Court.
In reply to an RTI activist Sanjay Sharma, the UP government accepted the reality. On July 4 this year it disclosed that two oxygen cylinders were availed from unauthorized persons, as there was shortage of supply on August 11, 2017. Not only this, the BRD College also accepted that it was former nodal officer Dr Khan who arranged six oxygen cylinders from five nursing homes.
Sanjay Sharma said that the state government did not want to share the information, as the RTI was filed on August 14, 2017 but what he received was a partial reply, and that too when he lodged a complaint with the State Information Commission. Main information was avoided citing that the case was sub-judice.
Meanwhile, Dr Khan and his family were harassed and tortured. He himself faced allegations of rape in 2015. A case was registered, but the police dismissed the allegation as false in its final report. Yet, after the incident, he was sacked for 'dereliction of duty' and 'carrying out private practice'. The medical college accused him of ' fabricating stories' in media to show himself as saviour of children.
His younger brother Kashif Jameel was shot at by unidentified persons in June this year. Though Dr Khan named BJP MP behind the attack, no action has been taken. His elder brother Adeel Khan (along with two others) was booked for forgery for opening bank account.
Dr Kaleef has expressed fears that a conspiracy is being hatched to frame him and his family. He has said that these incidents against him and his family needed CBI inquiry, or under a committee headed by a High Court judge. The family also alleged ' political vendetta' against them.
After his release, Dr Khan continues to work with determination. His intentions were made clear when he said that he would not be afraid anymore as he had gone through worst of times. "If my suspension from BRD is removed, I am ready to serve the hospital again. If not, I will open my own medical center for encephalitis with the help of NGOs. My clinic will be free and will not have shortage of drugs."
The UP government's apathy towards the healthcare of children is clearly visible. Very little has been done to improve healthcare. The Gorakhpur oxygen shortage case has not been probed fully. The state government has tried to implicate Dr Khan and brush away its inaction. It has not instituted any enquiry commission. A mechanism for welfare of children in the state is still a mirage.
Clearly, mere announcement of large-scale health insurance schemes may not solve problems on the ground. People need basic facilities to get medicines and check-up without much trouble. Natal and neo-natal care must be accessible to rural areas. Child specialists and hospitals should be available to remote area, where tribals and adivasis reside. Without basic infrastructure, launching grand policies with fanfare may not help vast majority of poor people.
Doctors must work for the welfare of their patients. Dr Khan is an example who, in spite of threats to his family and himself, has not bowed to pressure from the rulers at any stage in his life.
---
*Writer from anywhere and everywhere, who believes that basic healthcare is the right of every person and should be provided by every government

Comments

Uma said…

Kudos to Dr. Khan. It is his misfortune that he is working in UP. I applaud his determination to keep doing his work IN SPITE of the meanness of the powers that be.

August 18, 2018

Anonymous said…

Doctors after medical degrees prefer to work with private hospitals than with the public hospitals. Health care needs of the people are increasing and one can’t leave the people on the mercy of their fate. The private players have to participate and the govt has to pay them for the services. It’s a win win for both. It will make the private venture viable and people will have wider net of services available. However, making the govt sector attractive will be a big challenge as shortage of doctors will continue as a problem in the public sector hospitals.

August 21, 2018

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Subaltern voices go digital: Three Indian projects rewriting history from the ground up

By A Representative A new wave of digital humanities (DH) work in India is shifting the focus away from university classrooms and English-language scholarship, instead prioritizing multilingual, community-driven archives that amplify subaltern voices . According to a review published in the Journal of Asian Studies , projects such as the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), the Oral History Narmada archive , and the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre are redefining how the country remembers its past — often without government funding or institutional support.

Beyond Lata: How Asha Bhosle redefined the female voice with her underrated versatility

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The news of iconic Asha Bhosle’s ‘untimely’ demise has shocked music lovers across the country. Asha Tai was 92 years young. Normally, people celebrate a passing at this age, but Asha Bhosle—much like another legend, Dev Anand—never made us feel she was growing old. She was perhaps the most versatile artist in Bombay cinema. Hailing from a family devoted to music, Asha’s journey to success and fame was not easy. Her elder sister, Lata Mangeshkar, had already become the voice of women in cinema, and most contemporaries like Shamshad Begum, Suraiya, and Noor Jehan had slowly faded into oblivion. Frankly, there was no second or third to Lata Mangeshkar; she became the first—and perhaps the only—choice for music directors and all those who mattered in filmmaking. Asha started her musical journey at age 10 with a Marathi film, but her first break in Hindustani cinema came with the film "Chunariya" (1948). Though she was not the first choice of ...

Search This Blog