CPI Stages Stir Against Medical, Pharma, Education Mafia
The demonstrators raised slogans against privatisation of government medical colleges if quality education and medicines are to be provided to the people.
KAKINADA: Communist Party of India (CPI), Eluru area samithi, staged a demonstration near the Ambedkar statue in Old Bus Stand area demanding that the state government protect the interests of patients, parents and students from medical, pharma and education mafia.
The demonstrators raised slogans against privatisation of government medical colleges if quality education and medicines are to be provided to the people. They wanted reduction in prices of medicines and action against circulation of fake medicines in the market.
Speaking on the occasion, CPI state secretariat member Dega Prabhakar accused the coalition government of adopting anti-people policies, like privatising medical education. He reminded that when Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu implemented the PPP policy in the past, people voted out his government.
Prabhakar said there are 60,000 medical shops across the state selling medicines at high prices and also supplying fake medicines. He accused corporate hospitals of prescribing medicines that are available only at their own medical shops, thus creating a situation where patients have to pay high prices for those medicines. He demanded that the government take initiatives to stop such illegal practices.
CPI Eluru district secretary Mannava Krishna Chaitanya alleged that the corporate hospitals are delaying the implementation of NTR Vaidya Seva and Aarogya Sri schemes. Party’s Eluru area samithi secretary Uppuluri Hema Sankar called upon the people to fight against the medical and education mafia.
Others who participated in the demonstration included CPI leaders Kurella Vara Prasad, Addagarla Lakshmi Indira and J. Venkata Ramana Raju.
