Fake clinics rule the roost

To avoid getting caught, these clinics in Old City operate between 8.30 pm and midnight

- ASIF YAR KHAN

Situated in the dingy lanes of Fatimanagar in Falaknuma, is the small 10x10 feet mulgi (shop), marked by a glowing bulb outside and a green cloth that shields it from public view.

Inside, a couple of benches, a medical examination bed, a chair, a table and a few small boxes containing loose tablets make up the setting. A man, posing as a medical practitioner, listens to elderly people before quickly dispensing a handful of pills into small sachets, promising recovery from various ailments. He is one among many unqualified quacks operating in the old city.

Medical quackery continues to pose a serious threat to public health in the slum areas of Hyderabad, where unauthorised individuals run makeshift clinics, exploiting the poor under the pretense of treatment.