BIHAR’S HEALTH SYSTEM-A CURSE OF DEATH AND LOOT

BIHAR’S HEALTH SYSTEM-A CURSE OF DEATH AND LOOT

4-AUG-ENG 6

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

PATNA-----------------------Even today, the slogan of 'Jan Arogya' has remained a cruel joke on the land of Bihar. The health system here is a double-edged sword, one end of which is filled with the negligence of government hospitals and the other with the shamelessness of private hospitals. The blood of the poor and helpless people is flowing on both ends. This is not just the failure of a system, but a stain on the collective consciousness of a state.

Government hospitals have now become synonymous with 'defeating the diseases' instead of 'curing the sick'. These hospitals, which should have been the last center of hope for the common people, have today become another name for death. Broken buildings, rusted equipment, and absent doctors. Sobbing lives and broken dreams are scattered in the streets here.

Have we blindfolded ourselves? When a poor person reaches a hospital with his sick child, after waiting for hours, he is told, “You will not be treated here, go to Patna.” Behind this “go to Patna” is the truth that tells us that government hospitals only do paperwork, not humanity.

When the government system hands over a death warrant, people turn to private hospitals with their remaining hopes. But here, there is no treatment, but a human being’s helplessness is traded. Even a simple fever is declared ‘serious’ and a bill of lakhs is made. The patient’s family sells their property, mortgages their jewellery to get him treated, and in the end, when they have nothing left, they are turned away saying, “Now it is in God’s hands.”

For these hospitals, the price of a human life is only profit. These are the markets where greed is bid, not humanity.

Doesn't the Bihar government, which claims to have 'good governance', see what is happening in its hospitals? Is it true that the poor in this state have only one end - either to die due to the negligence of government hospitals, or to be ruined by the loot of private hospitals?

Till the time we get rid of this double curse, there is no point in talking about Bihar's progress. This is not just a report, but a harsh question from a helpless public. Does anyone have the answer to this question? Or will we continue to live under this curse?