Railway staffers protest treatment charge by hospital

BENGALURU: A section of railway employees staged a protest outside the Apollo Hospitals in Malleswaram on Thursday afternoon for over two hours, against referral hospitals attached to the Bangalore Railway Division asking the employees to pay treatment charges.

The protest, staged by the South Western Railway Mazdoor Union (SWRMU), began at 12.30 pm and concluded only after top railway officials and police rushed to the spot and pacified the agitating employees.

The issue came to the fore after a couple, Padmavathi (Senior Technician) and Shankarachari (Junior Engineer) working in the Carriage and Works section, met with an accident at Yeshwantpur on Wednesday night after their two-wheeler slid on a road. The night staff at the hospital had charged `2,800 for administering drugs and treating the couple, when they were admitted last night (Wednesday). The final figure they were asked to pay came to Rs 5,000 per day.

Union Divisional Secretary B V Raghavendra told TNIE that hospitals which have a tie-up with the Indian Railways should not charge anything from railway employees for treatment, but a few of them tried to charge patients. “They approached us. We intervened and spoke with hospital authorities to sort out the matter. This has been going on for the last two years, and we staged a sudden protest today,” he said.

Dr M Ravindran, Chief Medical Superintendent, Bengaluru Railway Division, said, “We have a tie-up with 20 corporate hospitals in the city for cashless treatment. Employees who cannot be treated within the Railway Hospital and require tertiary care can walk into these hospitals and avail cashless treatment. Sometimes due to the distance from the Railway Hospital or due to emergencies too, they go directly to these hospitals.”

Despite repeated calls,hospital authorities could not be reached.