RECENTLY, I went to visit a patient at Jinnah Hospital. Outside the main gate of the hospital, a fruit vendor was selling apples at the rate of Rs200 per kg, but all over the city and in areas like Empress Market, apples are sold at Rs100 per kg.

Hospitals are where sick people come for treatment purposes. Hospitals are not tourist spots. Rickshaw drivers there also take advantage of the fact that some patients are unable to walk by themselves and have no other option but to agree to the high fares.

I ask the Sindh health department and other authorities concerned to take action and issue a standardised rate list for vendors as well as rickshaw drivers.

Sachal Raja

Karachi

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2018