“Jornalist” Somini Sengupta has another “scoop” in the NY Tines. Ms. Sengupta has apparently just discovered that there are disparities in Indian society that extend, to the rapidly privatizing,health delivery system.
She starts with this bizarre statement: “To get the best care,” Robin Steeles said gamely, “you gotta pay for it.”
If Mr. Steele is willing to pay for it, why then is he in India? One would think Ms. Sengupta is making the argument that people come to India because, even though health care there is more expensive than their own countries, it is so much better that they are willing to pay extra for it. Not so. In the very next sentence she states that the reason Mr. Steel is in India is to get a Mitral valve repaired “at a price he could pay.”
As she nears the end of her short piece the quality improves, but not much. She recognizes somewhat obliquely that the American health system has disparities too and that “the American health care system could no more care for Mr. Steele’s than the Indian system could for Mr. Amin” (a poor laborer in India).
Ms. “Gunga Din” Sengupta is following in a long line of Indian sycophants who will speak to power with deference and admiration. To do that, however they must first internalize their values and despise themselves. If you find in hear article a curious similarity to those in the US press about health disparity in America its because, she follows in a footsteps many of India Journalists who recycle news ideas from the west into Indian versions for local consumption.
Although to be fair she has come a long way from her “four men facing their monkey god” days only a couple of years ago.
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An interesting discussion on her can be read here.
A blog post here.
