Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments during the Mann ki Baat radio broadcast, senior Gujarat environmentalist Mahesh Pandya has said while Modi did talk of minimizing the sufferings of the migrant workers, he decided to devote most of his time on his achievements.
Pandya, who heads the top environmental NGO Paryavaran Mitra, said, Modi talked of nearly one crore Indians having benefit from the Ayushman Bharat project, which is a part of the Government of India’s National Health Policy that claims to provide free health coverage to the bottom 40% poor and vulnerable population.
Referring to the manner in which state hospitals are failing amidst Covid-19 crisis, Pandya said, “This means that Modi admitted that the government hospitals have turned into dungeons. Government hospitals are not being provided with necessary equipment, which is why they are unable treat complicated cases despite having competent doctors.”
Pointing out that the result is, the treatment of the poor people is being thrust upon private hospitals, and the cost is borne by the Government of India under Ayushman Bharat, Pandya said, “There exists a government order to treat Covid-19 patients for treatment in private hospitals, but they do not have necessary facilities for testing and treatment.
According to Pandya, “If only Ayushyaman Bharat had been used to enrich government health facilities, ranging from civil hospital to primary health centres, Covid-19 patients wouldn’t have been in trouble today. If the government does not learn to value government hospitals, pandemic patients will continue to suffer.”
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