Niloufer Hospital faces protest over alleged irregularities, infrastructure gaps

Activists from PYL and POW staged a protest at Niloufer Hospital, alleging corruption and poor infrastructure. Their three-day survey flagged bed shortages, unhygienic toilets, inadequate facilities for attendants, alleged bribery, outsourcing irregularities and staff vacancies.

Hyderabad: The campus of the State-run Niloufer Hospital on Monday witnessed some tense moments, with activists from the Progressive Youth League (PYL) and the Progressive Organisation of Women (POW) staging a major protest, demanding immediate intervention by health authorities to clean up alleged corruption and severe infrastructural decay at the premier facility.

Armed with findings from a three-day survey, the agitating leaders marched to the administration block and cornered hospital authorities, ultimately serving a comprehensive memorandum to Superintendent Dr Vijay Kumar after prior attempts to secure an audience were stonewalled.

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In the survey report, the PYL and POW members highlighted the tough conditions faced by underprivileged patients and their attendants at Niloufer Hospital.

Expectant mothers are routinely subjected to inhuman conditions, forced to sit in plastic chairs for hours or cram two or three into a single bed due to an acute shortage of accommodation, the survey said.

Grieving and exhausted patient attendants are left stranded in the open air without drinking water and restrooms, while two entire floors of a newly built three-story rest house remain non-functional, they said.

Overflowing, unhygienic toilets in both the old and new blocks are choking the corridors with foul odors, turning the hospital into a breeding ground for hospital-acquired infections, POW members said.

The protesting leaders accused rogue staff of aggressively demanding bribes from hapless patients and deliberately steering them away from hospital diagnostics toward external private labs to rake in fat commissions, backed by concrete evidence.

The Unions flagged a massive, multi-crore outsourcing scam that recently came to light, exposing how corrupt syndicates inflated payroll numbers from 250 to 675 to siphon off public funds through bogus billing.

With compounding grievances ranging from chaotic street-level parking and apathy from Resident Medical Officers to substandard five-rupee meals lacking even basic directional boards and unfilled staff vacancies, the protesters issued an ultimatum to the management to act quickly and address the highlighted issues.