AERIAL VIEW
They say that you should go to GMC only if you have some good contacts or should be from the Sattari taluka for good and faster treatment.
Why can’t Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, who boasts of being an MBA, not devise a solution for online appointments and an online token system? What is stopping him from doing so?
The absence of online registration and appointments has given rise to the “Token mafia” in the Goa Medical College, wherein some “fringe elements” and some staffers also reach you the fast service for a price.
The Health Minister had initiated some action against such token mafia, but those efforts seem to be in vain. Even today, the Token Mafia works in GMC.
Despite being awarded for the best-performing State, it is a great shame that Goa is facing the worst kind of healthcare crisis.
Even in the days of technology wherein appointments can be taken with a click of a mouse, the Goa Medical College, the premier hospital in the State of Goa, is still relying on the old-school method of counter-registrations and token systems.
Due to this old-school system, even today, people have to stand in queues since the wee hours of the morning to get the registrations done and take tokens for OPDs (doctors consultations).
They say that you should go to GMC only if you have some good contacts or should be from the Sattari taluka for good and faster treatment.
Why can’t Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, who boasts of being an MBA, not devise a solution for online appointments and an online token system? What is stopping him from doing so?
The absence of online registration and appointments has given rise to the “Token mafia” in the Goa Medical College, wherein some “fringe elements” and some staffers also reach you the fast service for a price.
The Health Minister had initiated some action against such token mafia, but those efforts seem to be in vain. Even today, the Token Mafia works in GMC.
Why can’t the Goa Electronic Limited, which has been doing a commendable job in online services for the government of Goa, or the IT department be roped in to make the GMC appointment and registration services online?
Now secondly, the question arises where is the thousand of staff that have been recruited gone? There is one or maximum of two persons handling the registration counter in GMC, where hundreds of people have lined up since morning.
Also, the government must rethink why the load on the Goa Medical College isn’t reduced? In the last few years, the State has built at least three new hospitals for the – South Goa District Hospital, North Goa district hospital, Ponda Sub-district hospital and the Super Speciality Hospital.
But despite all these facilities, the load is always on the Goa Medical College; why? Simply because, though the structures have been built at the cost of crores of rupees to the exchequer, no facilities are provided.
The locals in Ponda, Margao, and Mapusa complain that despite the huge hospitals being built, there are no facilities, CT scans, or expert doctors. They say the patients are referred to GMC even for the smallest of accidents and infections. Can you believe that hospitals built at the cost of hundreds of crores do not have CT Scan or MRI machines, which cost only a few lakhs or a crore at max?
Another issue is the staff. In the health care sector, the maximum staff is just formed one taluka, and the health minister would know better from which taluka; hence, most of them want postings close to the taluka.
As a result, despite huge recruitment in the Health Department, there is always a staff shortage in Ponda, Mapusa and Margao.
The Health Minister must also inform the people of Goa why the two floors of South Goa District Hospital are still not being open to the public despite demand? So also, when will the Super Speciality Hospital run to its optimum capacity, which will reduce stress on GMC?