DIRTY MINDS

 

 

 

 

WITH little regard to the society’s general sense of well being, some political elements in Maharashtra indulged in a deliberate misinterpretation of statistical figures of deaths in four public hospitals in an attempt to create a wrong impression about the Maharashtra Government’s utter failure in management of health care. Ample evidence has now emerged that the numbers of deaths in those hospitals in Nagpur, Nanded and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar were in the usual range of fatalities that occur in any facility with such larger numbers of beds to look after. Though honourable Bombay High Court has taken a suo motu cognisance of the ugly development, it is amply clear that the four hospitals did not suffer from short supply of medicines or lacunae in medical attention in a big way. Thus, in just a couple of days, the negative propaganda some elements built around the State-run hospitals has almost died down -- much to people’s relief. Yet, the episode has given a good evidence of how dirty minds work to create false narrative and malign the system to the detriment of the larger society’s general sense of well being. There is, of course, no reason to believe that everything is all right in Government hospitals -- not just in Maharashtra but anywhere in the country. Much needs to be done to make those facilities top class.

 

Despite this, it is also clear that the general levels of services that the country’s public hospitals offer generally are quite high and good enough for the teeming numbers of people rushing to those facilities for tertiary medical care. Yet, unmindful of the good work the public hospitals do within their resources -- technical and human -- some elements often target the facilities as islands of gross failure of medicare system. The four Maharashtra hospitals became victims of such an unsavory political propagandism. No matter the political hype kicked up by some elements, the authorities at all the four hospitals insisted without any hesitation that nothing unusual was happening in their premises and the numbers of deaths did not cross the routine limits. They also insisted that there was no medical negligence. Yet, the political elements tried to kick up an uncalled for controversy by distorting the reality. That the distortion was purely political in nature became clear when Congress President Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge and NCP leader Mrs. Supriya Sule made statements castigating the so-called failure of the medicare system in Maharashtra’s public hospitals. They did so without checking facts or ensuring that all the details fed by their minions were correct.

 

We condemn such politics that refuses to take into consideration facts and figures and analyse those correctly before presenting an issue to the general public. Obviously, the distortion in this case was done with electoral goals in mind as the political community is gearing up for the few legislative and later parliamentary elections due in some time from now. It is unfortunate that the political vested interests do not understand or refuse to understand what is right for the larger society and then take steps to further their whatever goals. They do not care if the larger society’s sense of well being and assurance of overall security is afflicted by their actions. When the honourable Bombay High Court looks into the episode, truth will certainly come out and offer relief to an otherwise harassed society. But the political community must keep in mind that it must refrain from cheap methods and work for the upliftment of the suffering sections of the society. The Maharashtra hospital issue has brought this need to fore like never before.