We never deny treatment of those coming from outside Bengal: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday (March 19, 2025) said the State’s health authorities do not deny treatment of those who come from other States.

She described the health infrastructure in West Bengal as the best in the country and said people from other States have been treated in hospitals in Bengal.

Ms. Banerjee was speaking on the budget for the health department in the Assembly.

“Ask those people, who are saying ‘Hindu Hindu Bhai Bhai‘, whether they go to hospitals to ask Hindi-speaking persons who come from Bihar for treatment, about their well-being. Do they go to hospitals to ask those coming from Tripura, north-eastern States or any other place? We never deny treatment of the people from other States,” Ms. Banerjee told the House without naming any political party.

The chief minister’s comment comes two days after parts of Chinsurah in Hooghly district witnessed the appearance of BJP’s banners and flexes, which read ‘Hindu Hindu Bhai Bhai, 2026 e BJP ke Chai‘ (All Hindus are brothers, we want the BJP in power in 2026), ostensibly setting the campaign tone for the next year’s West Bengal Assembly polls.

The IT and social media cell of the ruling TMC responded swiftly with multiple counter-slogans on banners appearing on Tuesday in parts of north Kolkata, which retained the opposition’s Hindu-centric rhetoric but questioned public policies of the BJP-led Centre.

Referring to Bengali poet Sukanta Bhattacharya’s ‘Chaarpatra’, Ms. Banerjee said, “We believe in the religion of Ram Krishna Param Hansha and Swami Vivekananda. We do not believe in those imported from outside and those create division among people and kill people…Do not believe in politics which kills people. We believe in peace,” she said.

Banerjee also claimed that the beautification of hospitals and the upgradation of the health sector commenced soon after her party assumed power in the state.

“I can challenge anyone and say that in the health sector, Bengal is the best in the country and the entire world recognises its efforts,” she said, adding that the number of doctors has increased by 14,000.

She also alleged that all the rights of the State government are being taken away.

“..do not have the power to collect tax, the Centre is taking all the money… there is only one GST and they do not give us anything,” she alleged.

Ms. Banerjee also criticised the central government’s ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme and alleged that nearly 1.5 crore applications were lying unattended.

She claimed that the state government’s health scheme ‘Swasthya Sathi’ has benefited around 9 crore people.

“The Ayushman Bharat is not for common people and our ‘Swastha Sathi’ is universal. Around 9 crore people have been benefited. In private hospitals, around one crore got the benefits of the scheme,” she said.

Ms. Banerjee, referring to the rape-murder of the doctor of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, said, “There are a few incidents that had happened for which we definitely feel sorry. We also want the woman victim of the RG Kar hospital to get justice.”