STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Breaking his silence over the issue of mushrooming growth of unauthorised clinics affiliated to private sector hospitals in Jammu, Minister for Health and Medical Education Bali Bhagat on Thursday said that though the government is not against promoting private health sector in the State yet it will not allow any unauthorised clinic to set up their shops and dupe hapless patients in the name of providing better health care facilities.
Ironically, while the state Health Minister was claiming that the government had closed down all these unauthorised clinics, the same were running their centres and treating patients. Some of these centres were still publishing advertisements in the local newspapers and booking patients as per the schedule of senior consultants visiting Jammu.
STATE TIMES had published series of reports exposing the working of the State Health Department as its team of reporters had found these centres to be operational despite the department patting its own back for cracking its whip.
Meanwhile, interacting with the reporters on the sidelines of a function at TRC Jammu, Bali Bhagat said, ” The Health Department had undertaken crack down on several unauthorised clinics and ordered their closure. He ,however, failed to explain why these centres were still operational.
Elaborating over the issue, Bali Bhagat said, “We are not against private sector. We have only directed them to come via proper channel and register themselves with the state Health Department before providing health care facilities”.He said the government will not allow any one from Delhi to hire a building and start running their clinics.
He said the Health Department would verify the credentials of doctors present in these centres and also verify their registration with Medical Council of India. Bhagat said, “We will not allow any unauthorised centre to run their shop here in the State”.
