Former Congress MLC Deepak Singh staged a dharna at the office of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) on Monday (September 25) to protest the decision to suspend the licence of the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, and the lack of facilities in other hospitals in the district, according to news agency PTI.
While the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital has been closed, Singh claims that doctors and staff are scarce in other government district hospitals, Community Health Centres, and Primary Health Centres.
"There are no testing machines, if there is a machine somewhere then there is no operator, in such a situation, the common person in Amethi has been left to die due to lack of resources. The BJP government closed the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital out of jealousy but did not improve its government hospitals," he was quoted as saying by PTI.
According to the report, the hospital's licence was suspended and the facility was closed after the death of a woman patient who was admitted for a minor operation on September 14. Her husband claimed that she was given an anaesthesia overdose, which worsened her condition and eventually led to her death.
The issue of licence suspension has taken a political turn and has become a topic of discussion in Amethi, where patients are experiencing difficulties due to a lack of medical facilities.
The Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Trust in Delhi manages the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital.
Singh is holding an indefinite "satyagraha" under the banner of the "Amethi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti" against the move, with hundreds of local Congress leaders and workers present, including Congress District President Pradeep Singhal. Samajwadi Party MLA Rakesh Pratap Singh also condemned the closure of the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, saying it should be kept above politics."Stopping the treatment facilities that were available to the people is against public interest," he added, as reported by PTI.
The Sanjay Gandhi Hospital's management has decided to appeal the suspension of its licence.
BJP MP Varun Gandhi and Congress state president Ajay Rai had written separate letters to Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, requesting that the hospital's licence be reinstated.