Undoubtedly, we need greater spending on health and infrastructure but would the business class (in this country at least) really want to forgo abnormal profits and concentrate on charity? Hospitals in the West are a different issue, but we all know that in this country the medical sector is one of the most neglected ones. The DMCH and most of the other government hospitals are better left not talked about, as they often hit the headlines for utter neglect of patients, inadequate facilities and revolting nurses and doctors.

The story of private hospitals is even more intriguing, because a visit to such a place means a lot of cash outflow for the unfortunate 'ill' ; sometimes along with completely wrong diagnosis . One has to resort to 'Mount Elizabeth' or 'Tata Memorial' as the only viable alternative.

Ms Esha seems to believe like a Utopian that the players in the shopping mall business would, all of a sudden, divert funds to building 'good quality' hospitals.

Perhaps they would, but what would be the outcome of it? They'd be charging more (come on, it's of "Mount Elizabeth" standard, and one MUST pay accordingly), and we would be facing the same doctors who prescribe antacid for ANY pain in the chest, and so on. Even if we get good doctors, they'd be charging very high rates because the hospitals would be 'standardised'.

Ultimately, the purpose of a private institution would be achieved, i.e. high revenue generation. So, how different is the shopping mall business from running hospitals? Both would mean an influx of money to the investors, and I personally think that the shopping mall delivers greater value because it doesn't put the lives of people at a risk.. Nonetheless, there ARE a few good hospitals in the country and I don't want to undermine their positions in any way.

Ms Esha should be mature enough to realise that the health sector in a country like ours should primarily be the concern of the government because the private sector would only cater to the people who can afford expensive treatment. And I wonder how many people can afford that. Undoubtedly, Ms Esha's benevolent thoughts aren't restricted to the 'rich elite' only.

Nonetheless, everyone has a right to speech and I eagerly wait to watch our profit-hungry businessmen creating 'values' for the entire society as proposed by Ms Esha.