Despite the push for a Digital India, one of Maharashtra’s largest government hospitals, Sir J.J. Hospital in Byculla, continues to operate largely on a cash-only basis, leaving poor and emergency patients stranded and financially burdened.
A recent incident highlights this growing concern. The family of a patient admitted around midnight was forced to purchase medicines worth ₹13,000 from an outside pharmacy, even though the same medicines were available at the hospital’s in-house store for just ₹9,000. With no online payment options and insufficient cash on hand, they had no choice but to pay the inflated price.
‘Systemic Failure’, Say Activists
Social activist Shuaib Mohammed Bashir Khatib, who assisted the family, called it a systemic failure. “It’s unfortunate that in a digital age, government hospitals still lack basic online payment systems. This is especially hard on poor families who come from outside Mumbai and may not carry large sums of cash.”
Branded Drugs Over Generics Add to Patient Woes
The problem doesn't end there. Patients and activists have raised repeated concerns about the hospital’s pharmacy not stocking essential generic medicines. Abubakar Kadri, another activist, claimed that the generic pharmacy frequently sells branded drugs instead, at much higher prices. “Doctors often prescribe medicines that aren’t available in the hospital, forcing patients to buy them from outside,” he said.
This has raised serious questions about the integrity of the hospital’s prescription practices. While hospital authorities maintain that medicines are supplied regularly through the government-assigned pharmacy department, the repeated complaints suggest otherwise.
Hospital Promises Accountability, Action
A senior administrative official said the matter is being taken seriously. “If any patient is prescribed outside medicines without proper justification, the head of the concerned department will be held accountable,” the official stated.
At a time when healthcare affordability is critical, especially in government hospitals meant for the underprivileged, the lack of digital payment options and manipulation in prescriptions is proving to be a major obstacle. For the thousands of patients walking into J.J. Hospital every day, the gap between policy and practice remains painfully wide.
