In city of super speciality hospitals, quacks in black tent clinics thrive

The state capital is home to top-tier multi-specialty hospitals, state-of-the-art diagnostic centres, and government-backed medical colleges.

- Aakash Ghosh and Zuheb Alam Khan

LUCKNOW: But the city is also witnessing the quiet proliferation of a parallel, unregulated healthcare economy, operating from 20x20 feet, or even 10x10 clinics housed in black tents.

Run by quacks, these black tarpaulin tent clinics have sprung up beside busy roads, under flyovers and on vacant plots near marketplaces across various neighbourhoods in Lucknow, including Charbagh, Chinhat, Mahanagar and Cantt. Ironically, one such tent can be seen barely 500 metres from the Kalyan Singh Super Speciality Cancer Institute in Lucknow, one of the city's well-known government-run hospitals in Arjunganj on Sultanpur Road.

An almost week-long investigation by HT reporters posing as patients in distress revealed how these makeshift healing setups claim to treat a spectrum of ailments.

Though primarily for improving sexual health, the practitioners who call themselves "Vaidyaji", deal not with just common cold, piles, jaundice, joint pain, they also claim to cure diabetes, paralysis and offer a supposedly guaranteed cure for cancer.

However, they don't offer treatment for ailments related to the eyes and teeth.

Behind the curtains, bold colourful text describes the ailments and their treatment for a fee as low as Rs 20 in contrast to the hefty amount or health insurance policies required to undergo treatment in the best hospitals.

These informal establishments lack any trace of legitimacy. They have no government licence, no displayed medical registration, no official pharmacy tie-up but claim to be affiliated with some "company", sounding like an Ayurvedic brand.

What's in the tent?

As HT reporters approached one such tent at Sadar in Cantt, a 35-year-old man in his shorts and an untidy shirt welcomed them.