Port and Dock workers, under the banner of CITU, commenced relay hunger strike opposing what they called ‘privatisation plans’ of the Port Golden Jubilee Hospital, here, on Tuesday (October 1). The relay hunger camp was launched by CITU State general secretary Ch. Narasinga Rao and honorary president VS Padmanabha Raju.
The Port and Dock workers have been agitating for the past several months against the proposal to upgrade the hospital into a super speciality through the PPP-mode. The participants recalled that the Golden Jubilee Hospital (GJH) was established decades ago, and was presently being operated with 80 beds. It has been serving the medical and health needs of port and dock workers, employees, family pensioners, pool khalasis, casual workers and CISF personnel and their personnel.
It was unfortunate that a decision was taken to convert the GJH into a 300-bed multi-disciplinary hospital with private participation. The CITU leaders said that such a decision would place the health and medical needs of around 35,000 people in the hands of private investors. They recalled that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had in its report in the past had termed the PP/BOT policies in ports was a ‘failure’.
The move could deprive medical facility to thousands of pensioners, pool and casual workers. The private players would initially make it look as though they would bring in the best infrastructure, and later they would withdraw some of the facilities on the plea that there were not part of the agreement, rise in costs and the like.
The CITU leaders said that in the 90-year-old history of Visakhapatnam Port, it was the workers, employees and retired personnel, who had toiled hard to make the port operate at national and international standards. It was unfortunate that the management was planning to rope in private partners in the management of the hospital on the plea of reducing the burden on medical expenditure.
They recalled that the Indian Ports Association (IPA), which had in the past assured that the federations would be consulted before taking any decision on inviting private participation in the running hospitals in ports, has now gone back on its promise.
The Port had earned a profit of ₹386 crore this year, and has paid taxes to the tune of ₹171 crore to the Central and State governments. They said that the port has thousands of crores of rupees as ‘reserve fund’. The GJH should be developed with the reserve funds available at its disposal.
United Port and Dock Employees Union general secretary K. Satyanarayana, organising secretary V. Ramalingeswara Rao, VDLB Workers Union president J. Satyanarayana were among those who participated in the hunger strike.
Published - October 01, 2024 03:57 pm IST
