WEBDESK: India’s collapsing healthcare system has come under fresh public anger and criticism after two horrifying incidents in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra exposed shocking negligence and mismanagement in government-run hospitals.
In Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district, a 26-year-old kidney patient, Sarfaraz Ahmad, died during dialysis after a power cut halted his treatment. The hospital’s generator had no fuel at the time, leaving Sarfaraz with half his blood stuck in the dialysis machine, according to his grieving mother. “I begged the staff to start the generator, but no one helped. My son died soon after,” she told The Times of India.
What makes the tragedy even more disturbing is that a senior official, Chief Development Officer (CDO) Purna Borah, was inspecting the hospital at the very time of the incident. Five other patients were reportedly left lying without power, fans, or lights.
The hospital staff blamed a private firm, Sanjeevani, which has been running the dialysis unit under a public-private partnership since 2020, for failing to supply diesel despite repeated requests. District Magistrate Jasjit Kaur later visited the hospital, seized dialysis-unit records, and promised strict action. “There was mismanagement and no cleanliness in the unit. A case is being registered against the agency, and it will be blacklisted,” Kaur confirmed.
In a separate incident in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, a 24-year-old woman delivered a stillborn baby after reportedly suffering from ambulance delays and a lack of basic medical facilities. The tragic death has once again highlighted the dire state of healthcare access for the poor in rural India.
Social media users and influencers have slammed the country’s medical system, with many calling it “rotten to the core”. People questioned the government’s claims of healthcare progress when basic services like uninterrupted electricity and ambulances still remain a distant dream for countless citizens.
