The Great Healthcare Divide: How West Bengal's Crumbling Public Infrastructure Created a Paradise for Private Giants
The gleaming marble floors of Manipal Hospital in Salt Lake reflect a harsh truth about modern West Bengal: healthcare has become a tale of two cities. While Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the much-celebrated 131-bed "Ananya" Woodburn unit at SSKM Hospital on September 17, 2024, promising corporate-style facilities at government rates, the deeper malaise plaguing Bengal's healthcare ecosystem remains unaddressed. This cosmetic intervention, while well-intentioned, obscures a more disturbing reality: the systematic deterioration of public healthcare infrastructure over the past decade has created fertile ground for private healthcare giants to flourish, leaving middle and lower-middle-class families with an impossible choice between financial ruin and adequate medical care. The Numbers Don't Lie: A Decade of Decline The statistics paint a grim picture of West Bengal's healthcare trajectory. According to parliamentary data, the state faces a critical s...