Mumbai: Uddhav orders party to audit healthcare system

Uddhav Thackeray has slammed the state government over the poor healthcare system. File pic

It seems like the Shiv Sena UBT has decided to trap the state government over healthcare issues, primarily in Mumbai. Party chief Uddhav Thackeray ordered party workers to conduct an audit of the healthcare system of the city.

Recently, Maharashtra witnessed serial deaths in government-run hospitals all over the state. Following the incidents, Thackeray held a press conference and slammed the state government over the poor healthcare system. In a recent meeting with former corporators, Thackeray asked party workers to conduct an audit of the civic-run healthcare system in Mumbai, mainly dispensaries and health posts.

Pravin Padwal, former corporator of the Sewri and Cotton Green areas, confirmed the development saying an audit of the civic healthcare system had been ordered by Thackeray. "We have started visiting dispensaries and found some lapses including a shortage of trained staff, equipment and some medicines. We are going to meet senior BMC officials to resolve these issues," Padwal said.

Padwal further claimed that this is not a political issue as it is related to public health. "During the pandemic, Mumbai's healthcare system was excellent. But now there are some lapses and we are working on them. Corporators are the backbone. As there are no corporators, there are some issues at the root level of services," he added.

Former corporator from Dahisar, Sujata Patekar said, "The party chief has asked us to conduct a visit of the healthcare system as he is very conscious about it. As seen during the pandemic, I'm going to visit some health posts in my ward. This is not a political issue and we are not doing this for politics. This is our duty as public representatives." Patekar added that any lapses found during the visit will be worked on. mid-day has reported that there is a shortage of TB medicine in the civic-run TB hospital and also on the delay in procuring a CT scan machine at Nair hospital.