Gujarat: Tapi tribals on indefinite dharna against privatisation of hospital

Sources said that recently, tribal leaders of Tapi district came to know that the government has begun the task to clear the pending work of handing Vyara Civil Hospital to the UNM foundation.

Tribal leaders of all three major political parties have been meeting community leaders for the last few days and convincing them to participate in the protest against the privatisation of Vyara Hospital, sources added.

On Monday, the tribal leaders and their supporters held a dharna opposite the Vyara Civil Hospital.

A leader of the movement, Pragnesh Gamit, said, “The movement is for tribals, and all political leaders have joined the cause, leaving aside their political connection with the parties. Earlier, in 2023, after we held the rally and handed over a memorandum to the district collector, we got good support from the public, and this shocked the government. Later, in November 2023, we were invited to Gandhinagar, and we met Rushikesh Patel (minister of health and family welfare), Mukesh Patel (minister of state for forest and environment), State BJP president C R Paatil… They all assured us that they would help the tribals. Now, we have come to know that they have again started the process to hand over the hospital to the UNM foundation.”

On September 13, 2023, a large number of tribals from different towns and villages of Tapi district had participated in rallies protesting against the state government’s decision to privatise the Vyara Civil Hospital. The protesters included leaders of the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which came together under the umbrella of Adivasi Samaj and carried out a protest.
He further said, “We recently held a meeting with the tribal leaders of Tapi district and they all said that now we will sit on a dharna for an indefinite period till we get in writing that the hospital will not be given to the UNM foundation.”

Government sources said that by setting up a medical college in Vyara, the local students will be benefited. The Vyara hospital will be converted into a multi-superspeciality hospital where the tribals from different interior villages will get treatment, they added.

Said Gamit, “If the government is so worried about the health of the tribals, we are ready to hand over our land to the government so that the Torrent company can set up a hospital and medical college there. (But) once the (Civil) hospital is privatised, we will have to pay more, and the facilities that we were getting in civil hospitals will be snatched away from us.”