Social activists and people from different professions staged a dharna in front of the office of Mangaluru City South MLA D. Vedavyas Kamath here on Monday demanding that a government medical college be set up in the city and the Government Wenlock and Lady Goschen Hospitals be upgraded as super-speciality hospitals.
They also sought more facilities in other government hospitals and primary health centres (PHCs) and filling of vacant posts in community health centres and PHCs. The activists demanded 100-bed hospitals in each taluk headquarters and urged the government to regulate private hospitals from charging exorbitant charges for treatment.
The protest was organised by the Democratic Youth Federation of India.
Addressing the gathering, Communist Party of India (Marxist) district secretary Vasanth Achari said that their demands have been pending for long. The COVID-19 situation has only helped in reviving these demands.
“I am glad to see the support that this protest has received on the social media. We need to make this as a public movement and bring pressure to bear on elected representatives in fulfilling these demands,” he said.
Mr. Achari said that a majority of those who died of COVID-19 infection, which included some CPI(M) activists, could not get the necessary treatment in time. “We need to fight and ensure that the common man gets treatment at the right time,” he said.
DYFI State president Muneer Katipalla said that it was unfortunate that the district does not have a government medical college. Private medical colleges are taking advantage of the poor state of government hospitals. A commercial outlook of the private medical colleges has hurt people in the district. Similar protests will be held in front of the offices of all other MLAs in the district.
Physician Devidas Shetty said that the district requires an unit of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Advocate Dinesh Hegde Ullepady said that treatment cost of COVID-19 infected people should be fully borne by the government.
Communist Party of India District leader V. Seetaram Berinje also spoke.
Mr. Kamath received a memorandum from the activists and assured them of the State government initiating action in the matter.