The villagers of Bhiwandi in order to bring out the mismanagement of the hospital administration and also counting the lack of basic facilities in the government-run Indira Gandhi Memorial (IGM) hospital came up with a unique protest where they conducted the 'Death Ritual' of the hospital.
The villagers brought a giant portrait of the "dead" hospital and garlanded it before sitting down in front of the health care facility and also performed mock death rituals.
Pramod Pawar, vice president of Shramjivi Sanghatana said, "The 'death rituals' type of protest was our idea because it seems that the IGM Hospital of Bhiwandi is dead. The hospital management and administration are neglecting all the basic services and even after several complaints, no action has been taken. We carried out the protest to put our problems in the ears of management and also the state government."
"We demanded that the Aircondition which is 30 years old in the mortuary room of IGM Hospital should be changed on a priority basis, also if the pregnant women delivery does not take place at the hospital and instead it happens in private hospitals then the IGM management should pay the bills for private hospitals. There are many other basic facilities which required immediate attention and it should be looked after and our demands should be met immediately," Pawar added.
A close source from the IGM hospital on the condition of anonymity informed, "More than 100 villagers protested outside the hospital on Friday because they think that they are not getting the basic facilities from the hospital. We have acknowledged their demands and we will send it to the state government officials and the concerned authorities to look into the matter and take immediate action on it. The protestors demanded facilities like other hospitals including KEM, Lokmanya Tilak Hospital in Sion, Nair Hospital in Mumbai Central and JJ Hospital in Byculla. The protesters were assured that the management will immediately look into the matter."
The protestors met hospital superintendent Dr Rajesh More and had talks with him who assured them that soon all the services would be improved and also 24x7 helpline would be made operational and also sufficient staff would be appointed to enhance its functioning.
