During the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) elections in March this year Panaji MLA Babush Monserrate had solemnly promised that the Health Center at the Old Ribandar Hospital would be a reality before this monsoon. All his three Ribandar CCP Councillors are now conveniently silent on this failed promise.
If that promised Health Center had seen the light of the day it would have in this pandemic been of immense service for the people of Ribandar and neighbouring Chimbel, Merces, Old Goa and the residents in the Island of Divar. Our proposed Health Center was approved by Health Minister Vishwajit Rane but was stalled by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant due to the very strong opposition from Union Ayush Minister Shripad Naik who wants an Ayush Center set up there. It is an irony that Shripad Naik despite being a resident of Ribandar has been against our Health Center and should realize that after his car accident earlier this year, it was not Ayush treatment but the medical expertise at the Goa Medical College that came to his rescue. In this pandemic we have been losing too many precious lives. Seeing our friends and family depart is a very painful experience as family and friends ponder if lives could have been saved with better, well equipped and easily accessible health services. It is all the more devastating when a life is lost due to lack of proper medical facilities. The Goa Government would be well advised not to pursue any needless projects while focusing on improving Health Care facilities across the State which is an issue that needs to be addressed on a priority to save lives. If medical facilities are restored at the Old Ribandar Hospital which is Asia’s first medical school it would be a remarkable achievement for this otherwise faltering government. The late Martin Luther King had rightly said “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane”.