Bengaluru, February 19 Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, R. Ashok, on Thursday alleged that the state's public healthcare system is "crumbling" under the Congress government, following protests by patients and their relatives at the Kolar district hospital after critical diagnostic services like CT and MRI scans were halted.
The National Health Mission (NHM) said it is making alternative arrangements.
Family members told reporters that they had been running from pillar to pillar for the past three days. A similar situation was reported at the Yadgir district hospital.
A woman at the Kolar district hospital participating in the protest said her husband was suffering from severe facial swelling, and authorities were refusing to perform the scan.
"Today, they are demanding Rs 4,000 for a scan. Where should poor people go? Are they meant to die without treatment?" she asked.
Ashok shared on his X handle a letter written by Krsnaa Diagnostics Limited to the NHM, Karnataka, seeking the release of pending dues and warning of temporary suspension of CT and MRI services from February 18 if payments were not cleared.
"The public healthcare system in Karnataka is crumbling under the Congress government," Ashok claimed.
He alleged that first there were reports of medicine shortages in government hospitals, and now the Congress government has failed to clear Rs 143.78 crore in dues to CT and MRI service providers, pending for the last three years.
"Rs 143.78 crore unpaid. Three years of delay. Repeated representations ignored. This is not a minor administrative lapse. This is financial paralysis in the Health Department," he said.
According to Ashok, essential diagnostic services across Karnataka are "under threat".
"If CT and MRI services are disrupted, poor and middle-class patients will suffer – including accident victims, cancer patients, stroke cases, and pregnant women requiring urgent scans. What exactly is Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao doing?" he asked.
"A Health Department that cannot clear Rs 143.78 crore in legitimate dues for three years cannot claim to care about public health," Ashok said.
He demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah answer why the dues were not released, why contractual obligations were ignored, and why the Health Department is pushing life-saving services to the brink.
"If the Health Minister cannot ensure timely payments for essential services, he has no moral authority to continue in office. CM Siddaramaiah must take responsibility and immediately sack Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao," he added.
In a letter dated February 15 to the Mission Director, NHM Karnataka, the Pune-based diagnostics firm said that despite repeated communications over five years and 95 written representations in the last three years, its “rightful dues amounting to approximately Rs 143.78 crore” remained unpaid.
"Due to the non-release of our rightful dues, the situation has now reached a point where the company’s financial capacity to continue operations has been entirely exhausted," the firm said.
It sought an interim payment of at least Rs 50 crore by February 17 to stabilise its operations.
"Failing such release on or before February 17, we shall be left with no alternative but to temporarily suspend all CT and MRI diagnostic services across Karnataka with effect from February 18, until the outstanding dues are cleared," the letter stated.
The company added, "This is not a decision of choice; it is a decision forced upon us by continued inaction and non-payment."
The National Health Mission strongly rebutted the claims.
"Krsnaa Diagnostics Ltd has made claims regarding non-payment of dues that are disputed since 2019 to the tune of Rs 143 crore. However, the amount claimed has not been admitted by the department; hence, it is not payable," the NHM said in a statement.
The state government said it has sufficient funds to provide CT and MRI services across Karnataka.
"All necessary measures have been taken to release rightful payments, even in the absence of Government of India funds. CT and MRI scanning services have resumed in alternative institutions in some places and will be fully operational in all districts within two to three days," the statement said.
The NHM said Krsnaa Diagnostics had entered into a contract with the Karnataka government in 2017 to provide CT scan services in 13 district hospitals and MRI scan services in five district hospitals under a PPP model.
From February 18, Krsnaa Diagnostics abruptly stopped CT and MRI services.
To ensure uninterrupted diagnostic services, the Karnataka government has made alternative arrangements with available government and private medical colleges, private hospitals, and institutions, the statement added.
