Private healthcare must expand alongside government system: Samik Bhattacharya

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Bengal president Samik Bhattacharya on Tuesday said the state government alone cannot meet the growing demand for advanced medical services, stressing that public-private partnership (PPP) is essential to make quality treatment accessible to people.

Addressing a programme at Kalyani in Nadia during the inauguration of a private medical facility equipped with robotic knee replacement surgery, Bhattacharya said the government welcomes responsible private investment in healthcare, provided institutions remain committed to affordable treatment for ordinary people.

Advertisement

“The government cannot overnight establish super-speciality hospitals in every district or provide every advanced healthcare service on its own. We need more private players, more private medical colleges and more hospitals to strengthen West Bengal’s healthcare system,” he said.

Highlighting the newly inaugurated facility, the BJP chief said the institution had announced that robotic knee replacement surgeries would be offered at nearly 60 per cent lower than the prevailing market rate, making advanced orthopaedic care more affordable for patients from Nadia and neighbouring districts.

He said Nadia, situated close to Kolkata, has now emerged as a destination for sophisticated medical procedures, demonstrating how advanced healthcare can be decentralised beyond metropolitan cities.

Bhattacharya urged private healthcare providers to balance commercial growth with social responsibility, noting that a large section of West Bengal’s population still cannot afford expensive medical treatment.

“Private hospitals are necessary as the economy grows. But they must also remember that many people from marginalised backgrounds cannot bear the cost of modern healthcare. Every institution has a social obligation,” he said.

Referring to the state’s medical education sector, Bhattacharya said private medical colleges have an important role in producing skilled doctors but emphasised that maintaining academic standards and quality of training remains equally important.

He also revealed that a group of internationally established Bengali doctors, including several who have acquired German citizenship, had recently approached the state government with a proposal to establish another private hospital in Kolkata without seeking financial incentives or tax concessions.

“They have only asked the government to provide suitable land. They want to contribute to Bengal’s healthcare infrastructure,” he said.