Foreign investment in private hospitals will make treatment unaffordable: RJD

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has opposed large-scale foreign investment in Kerala’s private healthcare sector, stating that the takeover of major private hospitals by multinational companies with no connection to healthcare could push up treatment costs beyond the reach of ordinary people.The party’s State leadership meeting, held in Kozhikode on Saturday (August 8), said investments worth ₹20,000 crore had been made in the sector over the past year.In a statement, RJD State secretary-general Varughese George said the existing system of distributing social welfare pensions through cooperative societies should be continued. The meeting said the government order making commercial bank accounts mandatory for receiving pensions was impractical.The RJD also protested the exclusion of 65 lakh workers from the VB-G RAM G scheme.The meeting observed that there had been inadequate coordination in issuing flood warnings in Kerala and dealing with the aftermath of floods. The party decided to hold its State camp in Kannur on September 18, 19 and 20.RJD State president M.V. Shreyams Kumar presided. Published - August 08, 2026 09:04 pm IST