No end to Hyderabad government hospital staff’s demand for ‘rewards’

At Sultan Bazaar government maternity hospitals, parents have to shell out Rs 800 when a boy is born.

HYDERABAD: They call it ‘enaam’ (reward). They demand it every time they hand over a newborn to its parents. But people who have to part with the Rs 800-Rs 1,000 reward money term it as another word for bribe.

The demand for money after handing over newborns to the family members refuses to stop at the Government Maternity Hospital in Sultan Bazaar. Attendants of patients at the hospital are forced to shell anywhere around Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 to the hospital staff. However, when asked why should they be given the ‘enaam’ money, the staff generally back out.

While some officials might deny it, Dr Anuradha Medoju, regional director Health and Family Welfare, who inspected the hospital in April, mentioned about the demand for money in her report sent to Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

According to the report, women who delivered at the hospital complained that staff at Labour Rooms and Operation Theatres took Rs 800 if it is a male child and Rs 600 if the newborn is a girl.  

Following a series of incidents which brought disrepute to the health department, officials cracked the whip and issued strict orders against demand for bribes. While at some government hospitals the demands have come down or stopped, it is still prevalent at the Maternity Hospital.

“After my wife delivered a girl, my family members had to pay Rs 1,000 to staff. The staff argued that we have to give money out of happiness. I don’t mind giving Rs 10 or Rs 20. But why would I be happy to shell out Rs 1,000 when it’s not needed?,” questioned the father of a newborn at the hospital, on condition of anonymity.

It’s known that mostly people from economically weaker section come to government hospitals for deliveries. The demand for such amounts is distressing for them. In another instance, a man earning Rs 300 to Rs 400 a day working as a labourer had to shell Rs 1,000 to the staff after they placed her newborn girl in his hands.

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