Ease of Living: Ghaziabad, Faridabad ahead of Gurugram in health

There are 101 hospitals in the city to cater to an estimated population of 25 lakh. Only two of them are run by the government — one in Civil Lines and another in Sector 10.

In terms of heath services, the city has ranked 100 among 111 across the country in the Ease of Living Index. New Delhi, Faridabad and Ghaziabad were ranked 111, 46 and 75 respectively in terms of health services. The rankings were announced by the housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday. Tiruchirappalli topped the list on health, followed by Vijaywada and Greater Mumbai.

In terms of heath services, Gurugram ranks 100 among 111 across the country in the Ease of Living Index.

Gulshan Rai Arora, civil surgeon, Gurugram, said, “We will have to first understand on what parameters were the rankings based. The district’s health infrastructure is in a good shape with around 500 beds in the two government hospitals and a strong network of primary health centres and community health centres.”

According to the website of the deputy commissioner, there are 101 hospitals in the city to cater to an estimated population of 25 lakh. Only two of them are run by the government — one in Civil Lines and another in Sector 10.

The Civil Hospital in Civil Lines currently has 200 beds, and a proposal has been sent to the state government to increase the number to 300. The Civil Lines hospital, which is the district’s largest government hospital, also receives more than 3,000 patients everyday in its out-patient department (OPD). The hospital in Sector 10 has 100 beds and its OPD logs in excess of 900 patients on a daily basis.

Ajay Gupta, secretary, Indian Medical Association, Gurugram, said that a possible reason for Gurugram’s poor performance in terms of health services could be the unaffordable health care. “Most private hospitals in the district are super speciality ones, which charge a high fee. If one doesn’t have health insurance, affordable health care is a distant dream,” he said, adding that the state government should play its part in making health care affordable by allocating more funds to government hospitals.

Recently, the state government announced that it will undertake measures to boost the prevailing infrastructure at the Civil Hospital in Civil Lines.

Elaborating on the rickety infrastructure at the hospital, officials in the health department were quoted as saying that in many place inside the hospital complex, plasters have come off walls and ceilings and there have been several incidents where chunks of concrete fell off the ceiling, resulting in injuries.