Petition against move to give hospital to Narayana Health

Bengaluru: A BBMP-built super-specialty hospital on Broadway Road near Shivajinagar has landed in a controversy with citizens questioning the move to hand it over to Narayana Health.

An online petition addressed to the chief minister has questioned the privatization of a government hospital and urged him to stop it. The petition has been initiated by Vijaya Kumar Seethappa of the NGP Karnataka Janaarogya Chaluvali.

“Public land, facilities, properties belong to citizens. The project built using public funds on public land to be handed over to a private, corporate entity is regressive, anti-democratic and threatens the very citizenry of Karnataka. This will jeopardise public interest, facilitate exploitation of vulnerable citizens and further erode the public health system,” the petition reads.

The petition, which got nearly 200 signatures within hours of being posted on Thursday, mentions that the hospital is located in an area where poor, vulnerable families live. “It becomes evident through various elements in the proposed memorandum of understanding with Narayana Health clearly violates citizens’ interests and is a total ‘sellout’,” the petition adds.

Public health expert Dr Sylvia Karpagam questioned BBMP’s decision to hand over the hospital without any public consultation. “It is astonishing. The investment in this public hospital, built on 20,000sqft, has been in the range of Rs 40 crore of taxpayers’ money for a lease period of 30 years,” she said.

Narayana Health said no decision has been made yet. “BBMP has been looking for partners to manage the hospital facility at Shivajinagar and, in this regard, we have had discussions about it. There’s been no conclusion. NH would be happy to support and participate in any project which authorities start for the welfare of people, and if such opportunities come in future,” the hospital said.

“No decision has been taken as of now. It is only a proposal,” said city mayor Sampath Raj.