Set up nodal agency to curb looting of Covid patients by private hospitals in name of treatment, Bhagwant Mann asks Captain government

…Free treatment should be provided to people of the state, already suffering from economic downturn

…Black marketing of Covid-related drugs and equipment rampant in state, Captain Amarinder should wake up from slumber

Chandigarh, May 14

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab president and MP Bhagwant Mann has demanded from the Punjab government to set up a nodal agency to curb the looting of Covid patients by the private hospitals in the name of costly treatment and free treatment should be provided to the people of the state who were already  suffering from economic downturn. In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Friday, Bhagwant Mann said that the Covid virus had badly affected the people of Punjab and the number of Corona victims was increasing day by day; but due to lack of equipment, medicines and ventilators required for the treatment of Covid patients in government hospitals in the state, the people were forced to undergo treatment in private hospitals.

Mann alleged that the treatment of Covid victims had been turned into a business of looting by some private hospitals and they were charging Rs 10 to 15 lakh from the victims in the name of treatment. “There were many cases where the private hospital treated the Covid victim for 15 or 20 days and also took Rs 15 lakh from the family but the patient still died,” he added. Mann said that due to the rage of Covid, some private hospitals and other institutions in the state were also black marketing the essential medicines and medical equipment for treatment but the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Punjab government was in slumber.  He said that the former government of Akali Dal Badal and the Congress government in Punjab were responsible for the financial looting of patients by some private hospitals.

Taking a dig at the Akali Dal Badal and the Congress government, Mann said, “Parkash Singh Badal and Captain Amarinder Singh, who have been the Chief Ministers of Punjab for the last 20 years, have not built any government infrastructure with good healthcare in the state, and instead have only encouraged the private sector.” He said that Parkash Singh Badal and Captain Amarinder Singh had given government lands to their allies for the construction of private hospitals at throwaway prices and now the owners of these private hospitals were looting the people of the state in the name of medical treatment. Mann said that Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh should wake up from his slumber and set up a high powered nodal agency to save the lives of the people of the state and to save the patients from fleecing in the name of medical treatment.