Madhya Pradesh to allocate beds to private sector but will it jeopardise access for the poor?

In a move stirring controversy, the Madhya Pradesh government intends to allocate 25 per cent of beds in all district hospitals to private organisations to establish medical colleges. The decision, aimed at incentivising private investment in healthcare infrastructure, has raised concerns about its impact on healthcare access for the poor, reports the Scroll.

The decision, backed by Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijaywargiya, follows a recommendation from the central government's think tank Niti Aayog. However, health activists fear that the move will restrict access to free treatment for the poor.

As per the report, beds are already scarce in the government-run hospital which is the only major health facility that most people in the Adivasi belt in south-west Madhya Pradesh can afford to access.

The allocation means that a significant portion of beds in government-run hospitals, like the 400-bed district hospital in Barwani, could now be designated for fee-based treatment, affecting the availability of free healthcare services.

The Niti Aayog model, first proposed in 2017 and updated in 2021, aims to bridge gaps in medical education and infrastructure. However, past experiments with similar models in Madhya Pradesh and other states like Karnataka have faced criticism and failed to deliver desired outcomes.

As per the Scroll report, the state government handed over a community health centre in Indore district, which covered more than 150 villages, to the Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences in 2021.The government halted the project in the same year due to fears of increased referrals to Aurobindo, forcing patients to pay.

In 2002, the Karnataka state government implemented a similar model and established Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital in Raichur and transferred its campus and operations to Apollo Hospitals. A decade later, a government review revealed service deficiencies. It found that the hospital lacked several services that were part of the agreement and had low admission rates for below-poverty-line patients.

Health activists argue that the government's responsibility to improve healthcare indicators cannot be outsourced to private players.

Despite concerns and past failures, the Madhya Pradesh government seems determined to proceed with its plan.

While the government justifies the move as a means to enhance healthcare infrastructure, critics fear it will further deprive the economically vulnerable populations of essential medical services.

As the debate continues, the fate of healthcare in Madhya Pradesh hangs in the balance, with the government pushing forward with its controversial proposal amid growing opposition.