The cash-strapped State of Goa appears to be going through the worst of crisis in the COVID-19 pandemic and it has been an eye-opener for the citizens, who pay their taxes regularly. While the citizens, or rather the taxpayers, are admitted in the State-owned Goa Medical College, ESI COVID Hospital and the Ponda SD Hospital, or the COVID care centres, where conditions are not at the best, the creamy layer or the politicians are admitted in luxurious private hospitals.
While Cuncolim MLA Clafasio Dias was the lone MLA to be admitted in the COVID hospital or at GMC, all others including Thivim MLA Nilkanth Halarnkar, Ponda MLA Ravi Naik, Madkai MLA Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar, Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao and his wife, besides Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik have been in a private hospital – Manipal, at Dona Paula. Interestingly, the bills of all these politicians will not be paid by them and will be paid from the taxes raised from the citizens. Moreover, while politicians have been admitted in Manipal, the news is that the Director of Health Services, Dr Jose D’Sa, who tested positive on Thursday morning is asymptomatic and has also been admitted in Manipal.
While the payment of bills is a secondary matter, what the politicians and officer have failed to do is instill confidence amongst the Goan citizens in the facilities of the State. Till date about 15,000 cases of COVID have been confirmed in the State and only a handful of them have been admitted in the private hospitals. Was it not the duty of D’Sa or the politicians to lead by example and get admitted in government-run institutional COVID care centres or hospitals? By getting admitted in a private hospital, what example are they setting? Politicians are expected to lead by example, right?
The message is clear that the government facilities are not of the standard expected. The politicians and the officer, who created them are not confident of the facilities and therefore have decided to get themselves admitted in a private hospital.
Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, who have been telling the citizens bhivpachi garaz na, needs to convince his own men that there is no need to fear, if he cannot convince his own people, how will he instill confidence in the common man? Why this preferential treatment for politicians and bureaucrats? Last week also saw the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) doctors coming to Goa twice to examine Naik, by a special flight, they also inspected the high dependency facilities at GMC and so also the COVID hospital. The Health Minister and Chief Minister said that the team is extremely satisfied with arrangements and facilities. If so, why spend the tax-payers money on private hospitals, especially when the State is going through a financial crisis? On an average four persons are dying in Goa everyday, why not shift these extremely serious patients to a private hospital? Why not save lives in this manner? Do Goan lives not matter?
Crores have been already spent on overpriced ventilators and creation of other health infrastructure but the bureaucrats and the politicians have no confidence in the Goa Medical College and the hospital. Now, who should be held responsible for this? It is time the government stopped splurging money on the politicians in private hospitals. It is exactly a year since Herald had exposed the huge bills of Rs 10.8 cr paid for treatment of MLAs in private hospitals but sadly there has been no action. The amount could well have been spent on creating better health infrastructure in the State.
