Aam Aadmi Party Goa Vice President Adv Pratima Coutinho demanded that the top two floors of the South Goa District Hospital be utilized to treat covid patients
Aam Aadmi Party today demanded that the top two floors of the South Goa District Hospital be utilized to treat covid patients given the fact that the Goa Medical College Hospital does not have space to treat such patients.
AAP Vice President Adv Pratima Coutinho while referring to the GMC Dean’s statement in the High Court that they have only 700 beds but patients number about 1,000 suggested that the additional patients be accommodated at the South Goa District Hospital.
“There are two floors at the South Goa District Hospital which presently are not being used for any purpose and the same can be converted into a hospital for covid patients,” she said while demanding that the government shelve its idea of privatizing these two floors.
She lamented that the BJP government in Goa appears to be obsessed with the concept of privatization as the canteen and pharmacies at GMC have been privatized and said the government should shelve its plans to privatise the top two floors of the South Goa District Hospital.
“If Arvind Kejriwal would set up a 500-bed hospital in one week in Delhi, the Goa government should not find it difficult to convert the already constructed top two floors into a hospital,” said Pratima while dismissing the government’s claim of lack of staff as a lame excuse.
Pratima also pointed out that many private hospitals in Margao are rejecting patients because they are not confident of getting the payment from the government and disclosed that the private hospitals are demanding that the government pay 50 percent of the deemed charges in advance before they admit the patients.
Pointing out that both at the State and at the Centre it is the BJP government’s ruling, she said it should not be difficult for the BJP to sanction the required doses of vaccines so that everybody in Goa can be vaccinated and said vaccination would stop the deaths due to covid.
“It is disheartening to hear family members of the dead covid patients wailing and this should not happen in Goa and the government should immediately start vaccinating people above the age of 18 years,” she said while pointing out that though the Chief Minister had assured that vaccination would start from 1st May it has not yet started.
“The chief minister has no right to remain in office and should resign immediately as he has been only lying to the people of Goa and not even using his contacts with the Delhi bosses to help Goan,” she said while lamenting that people from outside Goa get vaccinated here but Goans cannot get it.
“Film actor Riteish Deshmukh and his wife got themselves vaccinated in Goa while the chief minister has failed to provide the vaccine to young Goans,” she lamented while accusing the chief minister of allowing outside trucks to enter Goa even though many of the drivers are covid positive.
She asked the government officials and particularly the minister to stop playing the blame game and start working for the benefit of Goa and Goans to rid the state of this virus.