Ahead of PM visit, Tejashwi flags poor healthcare in Purnia
PATNA, Sept. 15 -- Bihar's leader of opposition and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday accused the NDA governments at the Centre and in the state of presiding over 'double engine double jungleraj', alleging rampant corruption and exploitation of the poor in the name of healthcare.
A day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to Purnia, Yadav inspected the Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH) in the district late on Saturday. On Sunday morning, he took to Facebook to highlight the grim state of affairs at the hospital, sharing a 7.35-minute video that purportedly showed patients and attendants struggling with inadequate facilities.
The video featured children sleeping on the floor, a common toilet with broken window panes located on a raised platform - posing accessibility challenges for patients with fractures or recent surgeries - and patients lying three to a bed. Yadav said bedsheets had not been changed for over two weeks.
The RJD leader claimed the hospital lacked an ICU, trauma centre and cardiology department. Out of 255 sanctioned nursing posts, only 55 were filled, while nearly 80% of doctors' posts lay vacant.
"There is no permanent dresser and only four operation theatre assistants. Many of the 23 departments are shut, professors and assistant professors exist only on paper, and medical interns have not received their stipend for six months," he alleged.
Highlighting the systemic crisis, Yadav said around 10,000 patients were forced to turn to private facilities daily due to the lack of doctors, staff and equipment in the government hospital. "Corrupt ministers and officials of the NDA government spend thousands of crores on buildings and equipment for commission, but do not appoint doctors, technicians or health workers to operate them," he charged.
In his Facebook post, Yadav asked whether the PM, during his Purnia visit, would address what he called two decades of 'NDA misgovernance' in Bihar and 11 years of the 'double engine government'. He cited corruption, unemployment, poverty, and the collapse of health and education systems as glaring failures.
"Tomorrow, the Prime Minister will come to Purnia to shower false promises. Will he not see the big flaws of the last 20 years in Bihar and 11 years of the double engine government before talking about petty things?" Yadav wrote.
He also urged Modi to visit the medical college along with CM Nitish Kumar, 'so that he (the CM) does not keep asking people if there was anything before 2005.'...
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