Maval residents complain of missing facilities at sub-district hospital as industrial growth speeds up

The MIDC, the Ring Road and other major projects are moving ahead rapidly in Maval taluka. Industrialisation is expanding the taluka, and large companies and various projects are coming up there. But health facilities for residents have not grown in step with this pace. Residents are asking whether the taluka's health department is being left to chance.

The government opened a sub-district hospital in Maval taluka. Built at great expense, it was expected to give people in the taluka modern and affordable healthcare. However, long after the hospital began operating, residents are complaining that some important medical services are not available at full capacity.

Residents are demanding that dialysis, treatment for heart disease, essential diagnostic services, specialist doctors, necessary medical equipment and other treatment facilities be made available at full capacity. They say that because facilities for treating serious illnesses are not available locally, many patients have to go to hospitals in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad or other big cities.

With the government hospital lacking facilities, poor and middle-class patients have to turn to private hospitals. Treatment of serious illnesses, various tests, scans and medical procedures cost a great deal, and many families are bearing the burden. Patients and their relatives are making serious complaints in particular about the charges for MRI, dialysis, heart-related tests and other expensive tests and treatments. A patient who needs treatment cannot put it off because of the cost.

Residents say families with weak finances therefore have to take loans, borrow money or spend their savings. Some patients say the cost of major tests and long-term treatment is beyond the reach of ordinary families. The cost of private healthcare and the transparency of its charges have also become a subject of discussion. Residents want the health administration to check whether the rules on charges at private hospitals are being followed.

"If facilities are not available at the government hospital and treatment at private hospitals is unaffordable, where are ordinary patients to go?" residents are asking.

Many elected representatives and dignitaries were present at the inauguration of the sub-district hospital. With senior leaders attending the inauguration, people's expectations had risen greatly. Senior health department officials and the health minister are also said to have visited the hospital. Even so, people are asking, if the necessary facilities are still not available at full capacity after the inauguration, when will they be, and how much longer must residents wait.

The pace of industrial and infrastructure development in Maval taluka is increasing. With the MIDC, the Ring Road and other major projects, the taluka's population and industrial area are likely to grow further in the coming period. That will put still more strain on health facilities. Residents therefore say the sub-district hospital urgently needs the required doctors, specialist medical officers, nurses, technical staff, modern equipment and diagnostic facilities.

Residents also demand that charges for treatment and tests at private hospitals be transparent, that compliance with government rules be checked, and that an effective system be set up for patients' complaints. Maval's development should not be limited to roads, industry and infrastructure, they say; it is just as important that people get quality, easy and affordable healthcare. Residents are strongly demanding that the health administration urgently review the health system in Maval taluka and start the necessary facilities.