Silvester D’Souza

Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (EP)

Kundapur, Apr 29: “Reservation of taluk government hospital only for Covid-19 patients and shifting its inpatient and outpatient departments to Udupi district hospital is condemnable and anti-people,” said MLC K Pratapchandra Shetty.

He condemned the non-consideration of the request to continue outpatient and inpatient departments in the old block building of the hospital and to appoint doctors and paramedical staff for the treatment of ordinary patients.

“Kundapur municipal council limits has a population of 30,444. The population of other areas in Kundapur taluk is 2,23,296. All of them depend on Kundapur government hospital for treatment. Creating inevitability for ordinary patients to go to a distant district hospital for treatment on the pretext of Covid, is a ploy to make poor patients depend only on the local private hospital.

“Both Covid patients and ordinary patients in taluk hospitals in Udupi and Karkala are provided equal opportunities for treatment by appointing separate doctors and paramedical staff. There are instances of arranging separate Covid hospitals outside government hospitals but not of driving them away from the general hospital in order to arrange for a Covid hospital. I condemn this action of providing opportunities for corruption.

“Therefore, the deputy commissioner should act swiftly and set right the anti-people move. Opinions of the people will be gathered and repeated protests will be held in the proper forum in case of negligence,” he warned.