A day after taking charge, N. Manjunath Prasad, Commissioner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), experienced first hand the difficulties of citizens trying to get admitted into hospitals.
He called Sakra Hospital in Whitefield from the Mahadevapura control room to ask for a bed on Sunday. “Without identifying myself, I enquired about the bed availability only to be told that all were occupied,” he said.
Mr. Prasad later paid a surprise visit to the hospital to find that of the 300 beds in the hospital, only 16 had been given under the government quota.
As per government orders, all private hospitals are obliged to hand over 50% of the total beds to the government for COVID-19 patients. It was a similar scene at Vydehi Hospital, also in Whitefield. Of the 1,000-odd beds, only 200 had been given under government quota, he said.
The hospital authorities claimed that they were short-staffed.
Refusing to heed excuses, the commissioner reportedly threatened to seal the out-patient department (OPD) and ensure that they were booked under sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act and Disaster Management Act.
It was later on Sunday evening that Sakra Hospital agreed to hand over 100 beds for the government quota.
