CPM warns of agitation if government continues Privatisation of Public Hospitals

CPM warns of agitation if government continues Privatisation of Public Hospitals

Mangalore Today News Network

Bajpe, Jun 29, 2026: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] Gurupura Area Committee on Sunday organised a massive human chain protest in front of the Ganjimutt Primary Health Centre, demanding the strengthening of government hospitals and opposing their proposed privatisation.

The protesters urged the government to withdraw plans to privatise public hospitals, upgrade the Ganjimutt Primary Health Centre into a Community Health Centre, and sanction branches of Kidwai Cancer Institute and Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research in Dakshina Kannada district.

Inaugurating the human chain, CPI(M) Dakshina Kannada district secretary Muneer Katipalla alleged that while people were demanding better public healthcare, the government was attempting to hand over government hospitals to private players.

He said that despite repeated demands for establishing Kidwai Cancer Hospital and Jayadeva Heart Hospital units in Mangaluru, the government was making "irrelevant promises" such as organising Kambala during the Mysuru Dasara celebrations instead of addressing the healthcare needs of the region.

Katipalla also criticised BJP legislators for remaining silent over what he termed the government’s anti-people policies. He specifically targeted Mangaluru North MLA Bharat Shetty, stating that while the legislator often spoke about protecting religion, he had failed to recognise that establishing government hospitals and ensuring adequate doctors in public healthcare institutions was the true service to society.

Warning of intensified protests, Katipalla said the agitation would be escalated if the government did not abandon its plans to privatise public hospitals.

Speaking on the occasion, CPI(M) Gurupura Area Secretary Sadashiva Das said that primary health centres across Gurupura Hobli were suffering from an acute shortage of doctors and medicines. He alleged that the proposal to upgrade the Ganjimutt Primary Health Centre had been lying unattended in the Health Department despite several rounds of protests and that elected representatives had failed to respond to public concerns.

Among those present were CPI(M) Gurupura Area Committee leaders Nonayya Gowda, Babu Salyan (Vamanjoor), Anand Poojary (Iruvailu), Rajesh Naik, Ashok Bangera (Thiruvailu), Varija (Kuppepadavu), Gopal Moolya (Malali), building workers’ union leaders Ravindra Shettigar (Muchur), Janardhana Gowda (Edapadavu), Rama Shettigar (Kompadavu), Ibrahim (Kuppepadavu), Honnayya Ameen, Bhavani, Yashodha (Malali), Padmanabha Poojary (Iruvailu), social activists Bava Padarangi and Idma Khader, among others. The programme was compered by Vasanthi Kuppepadavu and Manoj Vamanjoor.

Following the meeting, a large number of CPI(M) members and trade union activists formed a human chain through Ganjimutt town. They raised slogans demanding that the government withdraw the proposed privatisation of public hospitals and strengthen them by appointing more doctors and improving basic infrastructure and healthcare facilities.