While Bangladeshis allegedly staying in India illegally are attempting to return home, the number of Bangladeshi patients travelling to Calcutta for medical treatment has risen sharply over the past few days.
Several private hospitals in the city and airlines operating between Dhaka and Calcutta said they were witnessing a surge in arrivals from Bangladesh.
A relative accompanying a Bangladeshi patient said entering India had not posed any problem, although security checks at the Benapole-Petrapol border had become much stricter than before.
At Narayana RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, the number of new patients from Bangladesh visiting the outpatient department has increased to around 80 a day from about 40 a few months ago, hospital sources said.
“The number of patients coming from Bangladesh has increased over the past year. From a low base in April last year, it has increased threefold so far as outpatients are concerned. Admission numbers have gone up by 50% from last year, though on a very low base,” said R. Venkatesh, group COO of Narayana Health, which owns the RN Tagore hospital.
Visa restrictions following political turmoil in Bangladesh had created a bottleneck last year. The crisis began with the upheaval in Dhaka in July 2024, which led to the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government. Bangladeshi visitor numbers had dropped sharply during the peak of the unrest.
The numbers have started increasing again over the past few weeks.
“After a temporary dip of nearly 15 to 20% in patient footfall from Bangladesh between April 29 and May 10 because of the Bengal elections and related travel uncertainties, we are now witnessing a steady return to normalcy,” said Sajal Dutta, chairman and managing director of Desun Hospital.
“Traditionally, Desun Hospital receives around 1,900 to 2,000 patients from Bangladesh every month, and the numbers have started recovering gradually after the elections, except for a brief slowdown because of Eid festivities, which happens every year. Till May 26, we recorded around 1,000 new OPD patients from Bangladesh, reflecting renewed confidence among international patients travelling to Calcutta for advanced healthcare services,” Dutta said.
“Bangladesh continues to remain an important neighbourhood for us,” he added.
At Peerless Hospital, the number of Bangladeshi patients has increased to
around 60 a day on average from about 25 a few weeks ago. “The footfall is increasing every day,” said Sudipta Mitra, the hospital’s chief executive.
Airlines, too, reported a rise in passenger numbers.
Biman Bangladesh, which operates a daily 74-seater flight between Dhaka and Calcutta, said flights were once again going full. Four to five months ago, flights used to operate at barely 50% capacity, a Biman official said.
The airline’s Calcutta office has sent a proposal to increase the number of flights. Earlier, Biman Bangladesh operated two flights daily on the route.
Several Bangladeshi visitors, however, spoke of stringent checks at the border.
Mukul Kumar Gop, 38, a businessman from Dhaka, has come to Calcutta for his wife’s surgery. “We took a bus from Dhaka to Calcutta. The waiting time at the border for immigration and security was more than one-and-a-half hours on the Indian side. Earlier, it would take barely half an hour,” Gop said.
“At the security check point, they made us open our shoes and belts, which had never happened earlier. Because of this, there was a long queue,” he said. “After the security check, we were taken to a waiting room, where we sat for some time before an immigration official asked us the purpose of our visit and stamped our papers.”
Gop also alleged difficulties in securing appointments for medical visas.
“The slots get exhausted quickly. I could not get one when I tried to book it myself. I bought a slot through an agent, and it cost me ₹8,000. The normal fee is ₹1,500,” he said.
Fakrul Islam, 40, another businessman from Dhaka, was at RN Tagore hospital for his nine-year-old daughter’s treatment. “Everyone has been very helpful, and we have not faced any problem,” he said.