Srinagar, Feb 26, : Number of private hospitals functioning in summer capital Srinagar have applied paid parking mechanism since years now, much to the inconvenience of people.
According to official sources, private hospitals are bound to provide free parking facility to its patients and attendants but in Kashmir the situation is completely different.
Before allowing construction of any shopping complex, private hospital or hotel to take place the authorities look into the parking facility. Once the parking facility is available, accordingly the government allows the construction to take place. According to local entrepreneurs, since the parking facility is prioritized by the government the motive is that people while availing or accessing different services should not suffer while parking their vehicles. The parking facility to the customers, clients and hospital attendants should be free and not chargeable.
“When someone is admitted in the private hospital his or her attendants can’t be asked to pay for parking. Many private hospitals are found to have looting people since long,” he added. An attendant Mushtaq Ahmad (name changed) said that almost every private hospital while providing parking facility to people, charge them according to their own will, which is violation of rules. Ahmad named some of the private hospitals found to be involved in charging people for parking. These hospitals are City Hospital Tengpora Bypass, Florence Hospital Chanapora and Khyber Hospital Khayam.
The private hospitals he added have kept the rates of paid parking between 20 to 50 rupees.
“Although there is no rule to charge paid parking from the attendants but every hospital owner is freely charging the money from the people,” said a retired government employee.
The people he said are being looted in the name of paid parking.
Paid Parking:Private hospitals take people for a ride
