PANJIM: Alleging a massive scam and irregularities in various departments of Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), the Congress on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza accusing him of negligence towards the health sector.
“State doesn’t require a Health Minister who wakes up at 11 am. The current state of affairs of GMC is strongly condemnable. We demand immediate resignation of Health Minister Francis D’Souza or that he should hand over Health Portfolio to Chief Minister,” former Congress’s Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said.
“Government has neglected the health sector in the last four years and more specifically in last one and half years. The BJP-led government is most corrupt and full of dalal’s,” Rane said in presence of Curtorim MLA Alexio Reginaldo Lourenco.
Highlighting issues at GMC, Rane said that due to lack of infrastructure, there is possibility that the additional 50 MBBS seats granted to GMC may be withdrawn by Medical Council of India (MCI), whose final inspection is slated to take place in January, next year. “The Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), which is entrusted with creation of new infrastructure to facilitate 150 MBBS seats, has not under taken any work so far. The old lecture hall is almost on the verge of collapse,” he said.
The Congress MLA claimed there is a shortfall of medicines at GMC. “GMC is a government-run hospital where all facilities should be free of cost. However, patients are forced to spend thousands of rupees on purchase of medicines,” Rane said accusing government of playing with the lives of the people.
Rane said that the super-specialty facility-Cardiotherapy unit is a big scam, while the 108 Emergency Service is now left as ‘bus service’ having no emergency treatment available. He also questioned the delay in finalizing the Din-Dayal Swasth Bima Yojana (medicalim scheme), which was proposed after scrapping then Congress government’s ICC Lombart medical insurance scheme.
The former Health Minister demanded that both district hospitals be run on public private partnership model.
providing medical facilities free of cost to the people.
