MKCG Medical College campus raided to capture Private hospital touts

Berhampur: The MKCG Medical College and Hospital was raided by the Ganjam district administration on Thursday after they got the scent of the presence of commission agents of various private nursing homes, pathology labs medicine stores and diagnostic centres.

Touts are alleged to be luring away patients or their attendants from government facilities to private healthcare units.

"We nabbed three touts from the MKCG Medical College and Hospital on Thursday and handed them over to BNPur police," Siddhartha Shankar Swain, Berhampur sub-collector informed the media.

"There were allegations that agents and touts of various agencies were swarming the patients when one entered MKCG compound, and they always tried to motivate them and their attendants to leave the government hospital and admit themselves in a particular nursing home or purchase medicine from a shop outside the hospital premises. Berhampur tehsildar Ranjit Kumar Parida and his team raided three wards - orthopaedic, medicine and surgery - when the three touts were soliciting patients and their attendants. We will continue such surprise raids in the future," said Swain.

According to BNPur police station, Inspector-in-charge, J.K. Patnaik 3 people - Prasant Kumar Panda, Raja Rao Dora, and Sanjaya Kumar Bishoyi - were released on a personal bond after they had they gave an undertaking.

Prasant an employee of a medicine shop close to the MKCG hospital and working on a salary said, "On Thursday, I was in surgery ward and approaching the patients whose prescribed medicines are not available in the Niramaya store. I promised 10 to 12 percent subsidy on the medicine. This I have been doing since past eight months.”.

Sanjay and Raja similarly, claimed to be workers of a private diagnostic center nearby. "We were approaching the patients in the orthopaedic ward to opt for digital X-ray for a better result which was not available in the MKCG. We have not defrauded any patients," elaborated Sanjay to the Telegraph.