‘Bareilly health officials don’t take people’s calls’

Patients were harassed as they were forced to move from one hospital to another in search of beds, he said.

Union minister of state (MoS) for labour and employment (independent charge) Santosh Gangwar has urged chief minister Yogi Adityanath to facilitate the admission of Covid patients in Bareilly hospitals.

In a letter to the chief minister, Gangwar, who represents Bareilly in the Lok Sabha, said the district health department officers did not reply to calls made by the people.

Patients were harassed as they were forced to move from one hospital to another in search of beds and other health facilities, he added.

Gangwar also said the city hospitals were facing a crisis of oxygen cylinders due to hoarding by anti-social elements who were selling to the needy at high rates.

“There is a need to identify the people involved in the black marketing of oxygen cylinders,” he said.

All the private hospitals in Bareilly should be permitted to admit Covid patients, he said, adding that hospitals associated with Ayushman Baharat scheme should be allowed to carry out Covid vaccination.

A large number of people will benefit with the launch of such a scheme, he said.

The hospitals should be also given exemption at par with MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) units for the installation of oxygen plants.

The state government should fix the prices of life-saving medical instruments to prevent traders from jacking up the rates of equipment like multi para monitor, ventilators and other gadgets, he said.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had visited Moradabad and Bareilly districts on Saturday to review the facilities provided to the Covid patients.

He had also held meetings with the peoples’ representatives and officers.