Kishoreganj (Nilphamari) Correspondent

There have been complaints about outpatient ticket trading in the Kishoreganj Upazila Government Health Complex in Nilphamari for a long time.

Although the price of outpatient tickets is 3 taka according to government law, 5 taka is being collected from each patient. When patients protest against the collection of additional money, they are insulted and humiliated by the hospital's brokers and staff. Every year, the hospital's outpatient ticket trade is worth more than one lakh taka. Patients and their relatives allege that this irregularity has been going on for a long time.

In view of the long-standing complaints of patients, on Saturday, March 8, at 12 am, when they went to the outpatient department, it was seen that there was a crowd of patients in front of the ticket counter in the outpatient department and the patients in the crowd were collecting tickets from the counter. When we spoke to a few of them, they said that the ticket price is 5 taka.

At this time, it was seen that Herbal Assistant Alamgir Hossain, who was in charge of the ticket counter at the hospital, was charging five taka per person for each ticket. When asked about keeping the 5 taka, Alamgir Hossain said that it is not possible to give two taka in small pieces, so it is being kept at 5 taka. Some people left without taking 2 taka back.

At this time, a conversation was held with Riaz Uddin and Sohagi, who had come from Putimari Union for treatment. He said, we are stupid people, we do not know how much the ticket costs. They took 10 taka for two tickets in front of us. If the ticket is 3 taka, then they took 10 taka for two tickets in front of us. They did not even look at these.

Abul Kalam and Zakaria, who came from Kishoreganj Sadar, said, I gave them a 10 taka note and they gave me 5 taka back. They did not take even a single taka less.

According to hospital sources, an average of 350-400 patients receive medical services from the outpatient department in this health complex every day. Accordingly, an additional two taka is collected from each patient, exceeding 20,000 taka per month. A portion of the surplus money is shared by some hospital officials.

In this context, Upazila Health Officer Dr. Neel Ratan Deb said, "Three taka is supposed to be charged for each outpatient ticket. If anyone is found taking extra money at the ticket counter, legal action will be taken against them after investigation."

In this regard, Nilphamari District Civil Surgeon Dr. Md. Abdur Razzak said, "I am not aware of the issue of collecting extra money, I have just arrived. I am watching the news."