Dr Gopal Prasad Sinha, 72

Neurologist

Who is Pappu Yadav to decide the fees of doctors? Who is he to guide us? We have our governing body (Indian Medical

Association) to decide on such issues. If Yadav really wants doctors to reduce their fees, he should get a law framed in Parliament for this. If he is really bothered about poor people, he should keep a tab on IAS/IPS officers

because they indulge in scams and loot public money. Why are the doctors being targeted? Doctors don’t call patients, rather patients come to us. So, doctors have the freedom to decide how much they should charge. It depends on the facilities they provide and the experience they have. Pappu Yadav is nobody to interfere in a doctor-patient relationship

Dr Ajit Pradhan, 57

Chief cardiac surgeon,

Jeevak Heart Hospital

It is a ridiculous statement.

I want to ask Pappu Yadavji how much money he spends from his pocket for treatment of poor patients. Every person has a requirement of money and doctors are no different. Yadav can ask doctors of government hospitals to reduce their fees but he has no right to ask the private practitioners to do so. Why cannot the RJD MP ask new MBA passouts and managing directors of private companies not to take hefty sums from private companies in lieu of their work? I don’t understand why the salary of an MP was increased from Rs 10,000 to more than Rs 1 lakh. Why can’t he donate a good portion of his payment to some poor person?

Dr AA Hai, 72

Surgeon

The RJD MP has given a generalised statement about doctors, which is not right. Not all doctors chargeunnecessarily. Yes, I admit that there are black sheep in this profession but that does not mean that everybody has opted for the ill practice. Pappuji should re-think about what he said and modify his statement. Treatment is getting costlier day by day. Gone are the days of hakims, who would treat patients following traditional methods. Nowadays, even rickshaw-pullers ask to get their CT (computerised tomography) scan done. For that, the doctor needs to buy a scan machine, he/she needs to employ a technical person to handle the device. All these increase the cost of treatment

Dr Himanshu Roy, 48

Infertility expert

Politicians have no right to decide on the fees of doctors. If they are doing so, they should also ask engineers, businessmen and others to do the same. Doctors have become a soft target and the statement of Pappu Yadav is related to cheap popularity. I condemn his statement. Few years ago, a similar statement came from a former MP-cum-strongman. He had asked the doctors to lower their fees. It seems the jungle raj is coming back. The state government should immediately clear its stand on the issue. Otherwise a wrong message would be sent to doctors that the state government is supporting the ill wills of certain people

Deepak Chhetri, 36

Constable, Special Task Force, Danapur

The diktat issued by RJD MP Pappu Yadav is in the favour of poor patients. Poor people can’t afford expensive healthcare and so they are bereft of specialised treatments when they need it.

I appreciate Pappuji for taking this decision. He has become a messiah of the poor people

Anjana Kumar Singh, 38

Homemaker

There is no similarity in the fees of doctors in the city. All of them charge at their own will for the same treatment. The rich people can afford to pay whatever doctors demand but it is impossible for the underprivileged to pay hefty fees

Mukesh Kumar, 36

Businessman

The doctors’ fees change on a weekly or monthly basis. Every time a patient visits a clinic, he/she needs to pay certain fee even if it is for a consultation. Sometimes, they prescribe unnecessary tests and also to buy medicines of a certain brand to earn a commission from the pharmaceutical companies. This kind of diktat should have been issued long ago

RK Tiwari, 48

Businessman

Doctors can earn a lot of money as they get a lot of patients. They do not need to loot. If doctors reduce their fees, even then they would earn good money because the number of patients would never come down