Port Blair: Behind the glossy tourism brochures of pristine beaches and high-profile development pitches lies a terrifying medical vacuum in India’s frontline archipelago. In a searing indictment of the local administration, prominent island leader G Bhasker addressed a press conference, ripping into the Andaman and Nicobar administration for what he called a “complete collapse of the human ecosystem” in the islands’ healthcare delivery.
From patients with broken necks stranded for weeks in intensive care units due to logistics failures to orthopedic wards where patients are crammed onto floors with nowhere to walk, Bhasker detailed an island healthcare system held together by bureaucratic apathy and questionable procurement scams.
‘Four Years and No MRI Machine’
Addressing reporters, Bhasker revealed the utter paralysis of essential diagnostic services at the capital city’s premier medical hub. “It has been four years now, and the hospital does not have a functional MRI machine,” Bhasker said, noting that when he confronted the Director of Health Services, he was told a “purchase committee” was currently meeting. “It took them four years to realize they need an MRI machine for the people of these islands? This is not administration; this is criminal negligence.”
Bhasker pointed out a deep structural rot in how the health department acquires life-saving equipment, training his guns on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) procurement model.
Describing it as a “massive scam” when applied blindly to medicine, he alleged that the system pushes for the lowest bidder (L_1), sacrificing quality for cost-cutting. “Go into the medical wards right now and look at the BP machines and blood sugar testing kits. The sugar testing machines are like cheap toys. Out of ten BP machines purchased through GeM, six arrive defective. They are buying sub-standard generic capsules from obscure companies where you open the capsule and wonder what is even inside. They are playing with public lives to save a few pennies.”
A Culture of Fear: Why Specialists are Fleeing: The island’s medical crisis is further compounded by a massive brain drain of specialized doctors, driven away not by a lack of intent, but by rampant internal politics between the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands Institute of Medical Sciences (ANIIMS). Bhasker cited the high-profile exit of Dr. Srikanth, a vital local heart surgeon who managed complex pacemaker operations single-handedly. “I spoke with doctors who told me that working in this toxic ecosystem has become impossible,” Bhasker said. “Dr. Srikanth was severely pressured. When he ordered medical equipment to treat his patients, bureaucrats delayed the files. He was forced to work without basic tools until he finally said he could no longer operate under these conditions. The systemic internal politics are killing the morale of our remaining specialists.”
In a shocking revelation of how deep the equipment crisis runs, Bhasker stated that the administration recently procured sub-standard surgical gauze via its centralized system. “They used infected, defective surgical gauze on nearly 100 patients during operations. Do you know what happened? Every single one of those patients had to be cut open again for a re-operation. It is a horror story.”
Wards of Despair: The ground realities inside Port Blair’s healthcare facilities paint a grim picture that directly contradicts the official press releases issued by the Health Department. Bhasker described a harrowing visit to the orthopedic ward earlier that morning.”There is literally no place to walk. The entire floor is lined with mattresses because there are no beds left. Patients are lying on the ground, crying out in absolute agony. This is the capital city of a territory with a budget of over 6,000 crore rupees.” The crisis worsens for patients requiring emergency medical evacuation to the mainland. Skyrocketing commercial airfares—touching upwards of 24,000 rupees one-way to cities like Bhubaneswar—have priced out ordinary citizens. Recounting a heartbreaking encounter in the Surgical ICU, Bhasker spoke of a manual laborer who fractured his neck after falling under a heavy load. “He has been stuck in the ICU for ten days because commercial flights are entirely full and there is no mechanism to transport a stretcher patient. He held my hand and wept continuously. Why can’t an administration with a 6,000 crore rupee budget maintain a dedicated contingency air ambulance for its citizens?”
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Taking a direct swipe at Lieutenant Governor Admiral D K Joshi (Retd.), Bhasker urged the administration to shift its focus away from vanity projects and PR exercises.
“Our Honorable LG is busy chasing Guinness World Records for driving or pushing the multi-crore Great Nicobar Project. Drop the records, sir. Go stand in a normal registration queue at the government hospital from the moment a patient enters to the time they actually see a specialist. Calculate that time. That is where you need to set a world record.”
“The Health Department keeps issuing claims that everything is fine, but they are completely ignoring the plight of patients and their families,” Bhasker concluded, adding “The local people built the tourism industry here, they survive on failing electricity, crumbling roads, and zero employment avenues. The least the state can provide them is the right to stay alive.”
