The ongoing tussle over the lease of three-acre Mahavir Hospital and Research Centre at Masab Tank has taken a new turn. Niloufer Hospital and MNJ Cancer Hospital authorities have now approached the Hyderabad district administration with a request to allot them the Mahavir Hospital land, the lease on which is yet to be renewed by authorities.
A letter to the Hyderabad District Collector requesting allotment of Mahavir Hospital land on lease was sent by Niloufer Hospital authorities on Thursday. “The land should be leased out to either Niloufer or MNJ Cancer Hospital. Both are super-specialty hospitals but do not have enough space to handle the ever-increasing number of patients,” government doctors say.
The 30-year-old lease of Mahavir Hospital and Research Centre expired in 2007. Since then, Bhagwan Mahavir Memorial Trust members have been requesting authorities for a renewal of lease. In the past, complaints were raised by many that the Trust had violated several lease licence conditions.
Many allege that the hospital had been outsourcing its medical services, not earmarking enough beds and providing subsidised services to the needy. On these grounds, several people had approached the district administration to cancel the land lease of Mahavir Hospital.
Doctors at Niloufer Hospital assert that authorities, instead of providing the land lease to private Trusts, should give an opportunity to government hospitals. “The number of beds at Niloufer Hospital is 500 but in-patient admissions are between 1,100 and 1,200. Our out-patient services are always overcrowded. Mahaveer Hospital will provide us with additional space to cater to women and children,” Niloufer Hospital doctors say.
MNJ Cancer Hospital has 250 beds but the inpatient admissions are close to 800 and sometimes even touches the 1,000 mark. Every year, 10,000 new cancer patients and 50,000 follow-up patients visit MNJ Cancer Hospital. “District authorities should give preference to government hospitals over private Trusts,” doctors maintain. The Deccan College of Medical Sciences (DCMS), managed by Dar-Us-Salam Educational Trust, which was started by the Owaisi family, had also staked claim to the three-acre Mahavir Hospital land.
