Of commercialised minds and sufferings of people

When I left Allahabad situated on the confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, in year 2000 the life was not as hectic as it is now. I have been visiting the city since then but every time I went there I found the decibel level only growing. You could have a cup of coffee on a roadside shop with your friends while intensely feeling and enjoying the serenity of the city in Civil Lines. Old Bungalows added to the beauty of the locality.

Civil Lines sounded like a synonymous with civilized world where intellectuals could gather at the coffee shop and discuss the entire world. In the last ten years the things went under a sea change. The old and sprawling bungalows are giving in to multi-story buildings. There is not an inch of space on the road for pedestrians. Looking for a parking place if you are driving in a car is an uphill task.

Shopping mall and commercial complexes have come up at every available space. Looking into magazines pages at Laxmi Book House or watching a film leisurely at Palace Theatre is a thing of past. You have to jostle with others and hurry up to get to your destination lest you should hit by a bike, car or a rikshaw. Commercialization is the buzzword in all the hullabaloo wrapping the posh locality and market from every side. There is crowd, crowd and crowd everywhere in the city getting reflected in no uncertain terms on the canvass of Civil Lines also.

Of the three segments of the city- City North, City West and City South, City North having in it university was less crowded. Breathing space was there for people on the roads and in the localities but City North is as crowded a region as other two segments with moneyed persons trying to buy every vacant plot either for rich investment prospects or for living purposes.

And who are these moneyed persons? Was there none?

Moneyed persons were there but in conservative terms it was understood that the lawyers practicing at High Court and businessmen had the lions share of money available in Allahabad.

But now as my friend MP Singh put it the doctors running the nursing homes have left all behind in terms of minting money. The second position is acquired by new brand of young lawyers and third by coaching institutes proprietors.

With no parking space and uncovered area a number of nursing homes have come up in almost every part of the city. My friend Virendra Pathak was told about a lady from rural areas who had spent over Rs one lac at a nursing home on treatment of her newborn baby and still there was no cure. The lady wanted her child back pleading before the doctors that she could not afford further treatment but doctors wanted the remaining amount on the treatment about Rs 1.25 lac spent on the treatment on the child put in an incubator, to release him. Obviously, the lady would have to sell her properties to afford the money.

If some good Samaritan or any politician helps her the nursing home proprietor would be kind enough to reduce the amount by Rs 10 to 20,000 but this would prove a peanut of concession for the lady.

There is public perception that getting admitted to these private hospitals/ nursing homes means a cost of Rs 50,000 to Rs one lac on treatment of a simple disease. These private hospitals and nursing homes have to spend a lot on their paraphernalia and several other things but amount charged by them many a time don't look realistic.

It's not that only doctors of nursing homes are minting money. It is practicing doctors too. A doctor kidnapped a few years ago for ransom and later released purchased some flats for over Rs one crore. The doctors in the city charge from Rs 200 to Rs 500 per patient for consultation. Their visiting fee is just the double.

The doctors may justify their fees given years of experience and knowledge they have, which they have not acquired in a day or two and for which they have put in hard labour and dedication, my concern is where the poor will go. Is he destined to die if he or she is suffering from serious ailment? The government hospitals do present a pathetic sight.

The medical college's teaching hospital's superintendent’s recent statement that he doesn't have enough money to get ventilators repaired speaks volumes for the pathetic situation at the government hospitals and government's indifferent attitude towards providing health facilities at the government hospitals where masses turn up for treatment. Ironically, the politicians beseech the support of masses only to capture power.

The city is dotted with coaching institutes advertisement offering sure success at the IIT or PMT examinations. There is plenty of unhealthy practices too to woo the students. 'Self study' is hardly a mantra coming from the teachers. It's understandable, for it's teachers of the university and degree colleges who are teaching in these institutes. I saw one of the most reverred names among academicians- Prof T Pati on a hoarding of a coaching institutes in Allahabad.

Importance of coaching can be felt far away in Bhopal too. "You must be planning to put in your son in any coaching", said class teacher of my son to me in a parent-teacher meet. I was stunned for a while to hear the words from the most unexpected quarters. May be the fault lies with the education system, I thought. For, the present education system doesn't prepare the students for competitive examinations. "Yes, I am planning" was my reply to her inquisitiveness. I did not tell a lie. I was and am really planning. My son presently in class 10 was opposed to joining any coaching or going for tuition till some time back. He got upset on hearing the words like coaching or tuition. But suddenly he realized that almost every classmate was studying in some coaching or the other. He may get something extra in these institutes is his thought at the moment.

The amount the successful coaching institutes are making is simply whopping. Just multiply the amount a successful coaching institute is charging from its students, with number of students every year the result will come.