Dy CM Pathak busy eyeing CM's chair, not focussing on his health dept: SP chief

Lucknow, Jul 10 (PTI) Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav said on Thursday that Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, who is also the health minister, is busy eyeing the chief minister's chair instead of focussing on his department and this has led to deterioration in healthcare services in the state.

Yadav, in a statement, said, "Health services in Uttar Pradesh have completely gone off track. Because the deputy chief minister has his eyes set on the chief minister's chair instead of his department. (Due to which) arbitrariness and misery can be seen everywhere." Referring to the situation arising after the court's stay order on action against suspended Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Hardatt Nemi in Kanpur, the SP president said, "In Kanpur, when two CMOs quarrelled over a chair, the police had to be called in. To hide his failure, the deputy chief minister conducts raids but does nothing." He said, "Just recently... (Brajesh Pathak) went to the Medical College of Gonda, where there was chaos everywhere. Doctors in the hospital were wearing jeans and T-shirts. Patients lamented that in the hospital, they do not even get bedsheets and were seen lying on shawls and blankets from home." Pathak reprimanded a lot, but nothing changed after his 37-minute visit, Yadav said.

The former chief minister also claimed poor management in government-run hospitals in the capital, Lucknow, Jhansi, and other places.

He alleged that due to mismanagement and poor conditions in government hospitals, patients are being forced to get treatment in private hospitals.

Yadav emphasised that the education and health system will improve only with the departure of the BJP in the 2027 assembly elections and added that the public is waiting for the next assembly elections. PTI COR CDN AMJ AMJ