BMC panel sends back proposal to hand over SevenHills hospital to private player amid Opposition uproar

MUMBAI: The BMC improvements committee on Wednesday sent back to the civic administration a proposal to hand over the sprawling SevenHills Hospital campus at Marol to a private player, following strong opposition from Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) corporators who questioned the timing, transparency and terms of the move.The proposal was not rejected but was returned to the administration for reconsideration after a heated discussion during the committee meeting.Opposition corporators argued that the civic body should not hand over prime public land and a major municipal healthcare facility at a time when pressure on public hospitals remains high.Congress corporator Meher Haider opposed the proposal, saying the BMC should not “give away its land on a platter” to private entities.“We have to think of Mumbaikars. This is our place, our hospital. Why are we giving it away?” she said.Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Sachin Padwal raised questions over the process followed by the administration. Referring to the earlier private partnership at SevenHills Hospital, he said lessons should be learnt from past mistakes.“Four years there were no elections and such a big land parcel is now being handed over again. The NOC was issued on December 15 when the model code of conduct for municipal elections was to come into force on the same date — December 15. Why was this done in such haste?” he asked, demanding an inquiry into the matter.Padwal also questioned why the tender was not reissued after one of the two bidders withdrew from the process.“Who will be the nodal agency? The mistakes made in earlier hospital agreements should not be repeated here,” he said.Congress group leader in the BMC Ashraf Azmi said the city’s municipal hospitals were already under pressure and accused the administration of failing to reclaim the property despite alleged violations of earlier conditions by the private operator.“Why did we not seize the space when conditions were violated? This appears pre-planned. We have to save this hospital. This is not about the opposition or ruling side; it is our duty to protect public land,” Azmi said, while demanding termination of the earlier agreement and a review of the proposal.Congress corporator Raja Rehbar Khan said elected representatives were accountable to citizens who questioned why valuable public land was being handed over at throwaway rates.“People ask us — land worth thousands of rupees per square foot is being given away for merger cost,” he said.Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Vishakha Raut recalled how SevenHills Hospital played a major role during the COVID-19 pandemic and argued that the BMC was fully capable of operating hospitals on its own.“Lakhs of patients were treated there during Covid. Tomorrow our next generation will blame us for giving away this hospital to a private institution,” she said.Raut further warned that the move could set a precedent for the privatisation of other civic hospitals.“Today it is SevenHills, tomorrow KEM and Sion could go the same way. Private players can buy land at market value elsewhere. BMC land should remain for the public,” she said.NCP corporator Ajit Raorane also questioned whether assurances made in earlier public-private partnerships, including reservation of beds for the poor, had actually been implemented.“We must look at the precedent before taking such a decision,” he said.The SevenHills Hospital project has remained controversial for years after the earlier public-private partnership ran into financial and legal trouble, eventually forcing the civic body to take over operations during the pandemic.