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Hindustan Times
11-08-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Govandi residents launch one-day hunger strike, rally against civic hospital privatisation
Mumbai: Residents and activists in Mankhurd and Govandi on Monday staged a rally and a one-day hunger strike opposing the privatisation of civic hospitals and demanding immediate staffing and improved services at the Shatabdi Hospital and the Deonar Maternity Hospital. Govandi residents launch one-day hunger strike, rally against civic hospital privatisation The 'Aspatal Bachao, Nijikaran Hatao'(Save hospitals, stop privatisation) Kriti Samiti, a coalition of over 25 organisations, led the rally beginning at the Cheetah Camp Maternity Home, and culminating at the Maharashtra Nagar Maternity Home. Over 100 residents of Govandi joined the march, with more than 20 observing a hunger strike till 3pm, and 250 others showing solidarity by joining the gathering. The Samiti opposed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's plan to partially privatise the 580-bed Shatabdi Hospital and 410-bed Lallubhai Compound Hospital, both located in the under-resourced M-East Ward. Last month the BMC had floated tenders to run these facilities in Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. The Samiti also demanded that the unopened Maharashtra Nagar Maternity Home, built three years ago with public funds, be made operational immediately. Protesters said that the M-East Ward accounted for 16% of the city's maternal death in 2021 despite housing only 6.7% of the population. As per data from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), the M-East ward is one of the poorest areas in the city with the lowest human development index among all wards. The data shows that more than half the children in the ward are malnourished, Tuberculosis (TB) cases have tripled since 2014, and life expectancy stands at just 39 years, far below the city's average of 56.8, said the association. A member of the Samiti, and Mumbai coordinator of Revolutionary workers party of India, Baban Thoke, said that the ward faced a serious shortage of doctors, nurses, and facilities, and often critical patients died on route while being referred to distant hospitals. 'More than half of the women coming to small hospitals like Shahji Nagar and Deonar Maternity are sent directly to Sion or Rajawadi, many in critical conditions. Many patients die in the rush of referrals due to lack of timely treatment.' he added. After the demonstration, the medical officer of health of the ward addressed the gathering and assured them a meeting with senior civic health officials within 10 days. The Samiti's key demands include halting hospital privatisation, filling all vacant posts within 30 days, and restoring Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) and ICUs. Thoke added that one of the aims of the rally was to highlight the condition of the government Maternity Homes in M-East Ward and demand their immediate improvement. 'The ICUs, NICUs are non-operational in many hospitals and maternity homes due to non-appointment of experienced staff. At this juncture the operation of a Maharashtra Nagar Maternity Home is critical to the health of mothers and children in M-East Ward,' said Thoke. The samiti also demanded the cancellation of all plans to implement the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in any government hospital, including Shatabdi and Lallubhai Compound Hospitals. The BMC did not respond to queries from HT.
Indian Express
03-06-2025
- Indian Express
Pimpri man bludgeons neighbour to death as demand for cigarettes spirals into violent fight
A demand for a cigarette spiralled into a deadly altercation between two neighbours in the Vitthal Nagar area of Maharashtra's Pimpri, in which a 26-year-old man was brutally bludgeoned to death with a cement block last Saturday. The Sant Tukaram Nagar police said they arrested Vishwas Bhima Shinde, 28, who works as a supervisor at an automobile dealership, on June 1 in connection with the murder of Akshay Sanjay Thoke. According to the Pimpri police, the incident took place around the intervening night of May 31 and June 1 in the Building in Vitthal Nagar. Both are residents of the same building. The police said Thoke, who worked for a private company in the past and was currently unemployed, was found dead with multiple injuries on his body on the residential society premises on the morning of June 1. 'The probe suggests that at the time of the incident, Thoke asked Shinde for a cigarette. Shinde said he did not have any cigarettes. Thoke again asked him and got angry. Thoke started abusing Shinde and also hurled a piece of rock at him, which Shinde dodged. It was at this point that Shinde attacked Thoke. Shinde bludgeoned him to death with a triangle-shaped cement block by hitting him with it multiple times,' said Inspector Gorakh Kumbhar, Sant Tukaram Nagar police station. 'We have arrested Shinde and a court has remanded him to police custody till June 4,' Inspector Kumbhar added. A First Information Report (FIR) in the case was registered by Thoke's mother, Vandana. The police have booked Shinde under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 103, which pertains to murder.
