Moga, January 21,2019: A day after the state government demanded bids for expression of interest for the private partnership in various rural health institutions and services, the state body of Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA) has announced to continue strong protest against this anti-people move of the government.
“We will not allow the government’s design to leave the poor people on the mercy of private partners. It will not only give them free hand to loot the patients but also snatch the option of cheap and free health services from the patients”, said Dr Gagandeep Singh, state president of the PCMSA.
It is pertinent to mention here that the out of pocket cost of the treatment is much higher than the national average and the state is heading the country. This will further worsen the situation.
The earlier two so called initiatives including ‘100 hospitals’ and the experiment of giving subsidiary health centers to the Zila Parishads proved a big failure of the state government.
The PCMSA reminded the state government that the state government is opening Health and Wellness Clinics in the rural Primary Health Centers (PHCs) on one hand while asking for bids to hand over the health institutions to the private partners on the other hand.
“We will approach the government to stop this practice first. If the government does not withdraw the decision, we will coordinate with the other health employees union to intensify the stir. We will also launch a statewide campaign to aware the masses regarding the results of the privatization of the health institutions”, said Dr Manohar Singh, Dr Chander Shekhar, Dr Madan Mohan and Ranjit Singh Rai, the senior office bearers of the PCMSA.
“The intentions of the state government can be gauged from the fact that during recent counseling for the post of medical officers, even vacant 24*7 PHCs were not listed for appointment of the new doctors. It is totally an anti people step of the state government”, said Dr Indervir Gill, the organizing secretary and Dr Gagandeep Shergill, the senior vice president of the PCMSA.