<p>Bureaucrats in Bengaluru could not have been more heartless than this. In a bizarre policy that raises many questions, inter-state migrants and even people from other districts of Karnataka who have tested positive for Covid-19 are being denied admission in government healthcare centres in Bengaluru and are forced to avail treatment at private hospitals, shelling out huge sums of money.</p>.<p>Such a move, especially at a time when government facilities are being shut down due to lack of patients, points to either gross insensitivity to the plight of people or underhand dealings between bureaucrats and private hospitals, or perhaps both. Patients who test positive in Bengaluru are being assigned numbers in their home districts and asked to submit a ‘recommendation letter’ from their Deputy Commissioners for treatment at a Bengaluru-based government hospital. As it is not possible for a Covid-19 positive patient to travel all the way to the home district to obtain a letter, the only option is to get admitted to a private hospital </p>.<p>The state government has been found wanting in its fight against the pandemic, with corruption charges and lack of cohesiveness at the top denting its credibility. The High Court, too, has expressed its disapproval on more than one occasion over the denial of admission to patients. The fact that the officers have no fear even of the High Court only shows how thick-skinned they are. Denying healthcare, or for that matter any service, based on a person’s place of residence is not only discriminatory but is also an affront to the Constitution which guarantees equality to all. It appears that the political leaderhip has lost control over bureaucrats and the only way to make them fall in line is perhaps through the court taking a stricter line.</p>.<p>A similar move by the Delhi government to restrict the use of the state’s hospitals to only local people was rightly struck down by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa should act fast and not only end this discrimination but should order a high-level inquiry into the nexus between officers and private hospitals. Whenever charges of corruption have been hurled, the government’s approach has been to blandly deny them, instead of ordering an inquiry and unravelling the truth. Such an Ostrich-like approach will only raise suspicions in the minds of the people about the government’s role and intentions in the matter. Instead of being a mute spectator to what is going on right under his nose, Yediyurappa should crack the whip and show he means business.</p>
<p>Bureaucrats in Bengaluru could not have been more heartless than this. In a bizarre policy that raises many questions, inter-state migrants and even people from other districts of Karnataka who have tested positive for Covid-19 are being denied admission in government healthcare centres in Bengaluru and are forced to avail treatment at private hospitals, shelling out huge sums of money.</p>.<p>Such a move, especially at a time when government facilities are being shut down due to lack of patients, points to either gross insensitivity to the plight of people or underhand dealings between bureaucrats and private hospitals, or perhaps both. Patients who test positive in Bengaluru are being assigned numbers in their home districts and asked to submit a ‘recommendation letter’ from their Deputy Commissioners for treatment at a Bengaluru-based government hospital. As it is not possible for a Covid-19 positive patient to travel all the way to the home district to obtain a letter, the only option is to get admitted to a private hospital </p>.<p>The state government has been found wanting in its fight against the pandemic, with corruption charges and lack of cohesiveness at the top denting its credibility. The High Court, too, has expressed its disapproval on more than one occasion over the denial of admission to patients. The fact that the officers have no fear even of the High Court only shows how thick-skinned they are. Denying healthcare, or for that matter any service, based on a person’s place of residence is not only discriminatory but is also an affront to the Constitution which guarantees equality to all. It appears that the political leaderhip has lost control over bureaucrats and the only way to make them fall in line is perhaps through the court taking a stricter line.</p>.<p>A similar move by the Delhi government to restrict the use of the state’s hospitals to only local people was rightly struck down by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa should act fast and not only end this discrimination but should order a high-level inquiry into the nexus between officers and private hospitals. Whenever charges of corruption have been hurled, the government’s approach has been to blandly deny them, instead of ordering an inquiry and unravelling the truth. Such an Ostrich-like approach will only raise suspicions in the minds of the people about the government’s role and intentions in the matter. Instead of being a mute spectator to what is going on right under his nose, Yediyurappa should crack the whip and show he means business.</p>
