Gujarat tribals up in arms as govt hospitals get privatised

In a turn of events, tribals across party lines in South Gujarat have joined forces and have been rallying against the state government’s decision to privatise the government referral hospitals at Vyara in Tapi district and Ahwa in Dang district.

In a first, tribal leaders from Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) and JD(U) have joined hands to oppose the move by the BJP government in the state. Interestingly, they are also being backed by local tribal BJP leaders who have decried the government’s move to privatise the civil hospitals in the two districts.

Noticeably, this is the first resistance that the ruling party is facing from the tribal belt – mostly comprising 27 districts in South and Central Gujarat – after sweeping the tribal-dominated constituencies in southern Gujarat in the assembly polls of 2022. In the 2022 elections, the BJP won 23 of the 27 seats in tribal districts which were traditionally Congress strongholds. The Congress had won 15 of the 27 tribal seats in the 2017 assembly elections, leaving BJP with eight seats and the Congress’ then ally BTP with two seats.

Why Gujarat’s tribal belt is crucial for BJP

Despite wresting several seats from the Congress in the 2022 elections and consolidating its hold over the state’s tribal belt, the BJP continued its mass outreach in the region post the polls.

In a move aimed at strengthening the BJP’s base in the state’s tribal-dominant Narmada district, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel stayed the night in Javali, a remote forest village in the Sagbara taluka along the Maharashtra-Gujarat border in July this year.

Political analysts have described the trips taken by the chief minister in tribal pockets as a new approach of dialogue and public relations, with Patel sharing meals and spending the night with the tribal families in the village.

“It is not just about 27 seats in South and Central Gujarat. Gujarat has a substantial tribal population and one which comprises 15 per cent of the state’s electorate. The population holds considerable sway in more than 30 seats across the state. For the BJP to maintain the numbers of seats of the historical win, it cannot overlook the tribal population,” says Gaurang Jani, a Gujarat-based political observer and activist.

End of free healthcare facilities?

The tribal leaders had staged their first protest – a one-day hunger strike – against the privatisation of the government referral hospitals, in October this year on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. The protesters were confronted by police during the demonstration. The protest was called by Amarsinh Z Chaudhary, a former tribal independent MLA from Vyara under the umbrella of the organisation Adivasi Samanvay Manch, at Kevadia in Narmada district. Later several multi-party protests were organised in Dang, Tapi, Navsari, and Valsad.

After the first protest, Congress MLA Dr Tushar Chaudhary raised the issue in the assembly, seeking an explanation from the government behind its intent to start a GMERS (Gujarat Medical College and Research Society) College at a hospital where tribals were already availing free-of-cost treatment.

Besides Chaudhary, members of the Dang District Congress Committee also joined the protests against the government’s decision to privatise the hospitals at Ahwa and Vyara. Anant Patel, the Congress MLA from Vansda and the Dang local committee also submitted a petition to the district collector, urging the authorities not to privatise the hospital in Ahwa.

“The administrative system is making every effort to kill the protest against the privatisation of hospitals in the tribal belt. This is killing democracy. Why are they privatising a hospital that has been the only medical facility in the area?” Mukesh Patel, a tribal leader from Dang asked.

Concerns over handover to Torrent Group

According to a recent government notice, the civil hospitals at Vyara and Ahwa have been assigned to the Torrent Group on a token fee of ₹1 under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

The tribal communities are deeply concerned about this arrangement. While tribal leaders fear the privatisation of the hospitals will make medical care way costlier for the common man, they are more concerned that the entry of Torrent Group – which has significant presence in the pharmaceutical sector, especially in research and development – to the tribal belt will give it easy access to conduct medical trials on the tribal population.

“Due to the abject poverty amongst the tribals in the remote villages, they may be lured into participating in medical experiments and trails involving new medications developed by the Torrent company in exchange for meagre monetary compensation,” says Mahesh Vasava, a BTP leader.

“Moreover, Adivasi patients are apprehensive about incurring higher charges for medical services at the Dang hospital where they have been receiving treatment free of cost thus far. The privatisation move has generated considerable discontent among the tribal population,” he added.

‘Why privatise and not replenish?’

Even though the civil hospital at Ahwa, Dang currently caters to the healthcare needs of the tribal community across 311 villages, as well as other communities of the district, it is in dire need of essential medical resources including doctors. Same is the case with the Community Health Centres, and Primary Health Centres in the district.

“Instead of replenishing the resources, the government has thought of privatising the hospitals,” rues Patel.

The move to privatise the civil hospitals is part of the decision by central government in 2019 to run health centers under a PPP mode in Gujarat and Punjab. The Gujarat government has already handed over six government hospitals to the Torrent Group that are in line to be transformed into GMERS hospitals.