Women across Vijayapura district created Rangoli designs, in protest against the State government’s plans to set up a medical college under PPP mode in Vijayapura.They began in the morning and created designs in public places, roads, in front of government offices and open grounds and turned public spaces into canvases of resistance. Such designs were created in at 25 places in Vijayapura and 16 places in other taluks.Women decorated the major traffic intersections and roundabouts with rangolis carrying the slogan of Save Vijayapura District Hospital and Demand Government Medical College. Handbills were distributed, and women engaged citizens in conversations about the dangers of privatisation.Women marched from the 25 locations and converged on Ambedkar Circle. They raised slogans against the PPP model medical college and the move to transfer the district hospital, land of around 150 acres, staff and other infrastructure to private agencies. Leaders of the Jana Vedike and Karnataka Jana arogya Chaluvali addressed the protesters.The protest by Vijayapura Sarkari Vaidyakeya College Sthapana Horata Samithi against the PPP model college is now entering the 60th day. We are strongly opposed to the government’s proposal to hand over the District Hospital and medical education institutions to private entities under the PPP model. This is our vibrant and colorful rangoli protest, they said.We are with the samithi’s ongoing and indefinite struggle to set up a government medical college in Vijayapura. Women leaders shared their anguish and anger over the silence of the eight MLAs despite two months of indefinite protest.Farzana Jamaadar said that the rich and powerful in society did not want the children of the poor to get educated and enter professions such as medicine. “We will protect our children’s right to become doctors. We are poor daily wage workers. But that doesn’t mean our children will stay that way. We want them to enter professions such as medicine,” she said.Jayashree Jadhav, former president of the Ainapur-M Gram Panchayat said that the district hospital is not for sale and that they would not allow its privatisation. Lalitha Bajjaragi, member of the samithi, said that this was a historic day in the ongoing struggle where hundreds of women descended on the streets and used their art into protest.Teena Xavier of Karnataka Janaarogya Chaluvali said that this women had only given a “test dose” to the government by the Rangoli protest. If the powers that be did not respond, women were ready to intensify the protests, she said.Akhila Vasan of Karnataka Janaarogya Chaluvali commended the women for getting on to the streets and said that they are an inspiration for the eight other districts to follow. She added that the government had ignored all evidence against PPP in health care and pushing such dangerous policies on the citizens. Susheela Shivraj Rathod, Bharatah Kumar, Deepa Ramu Rathod and Geeta also spoke at the protest.Kavitha Pawar, Muthu Bovi, Lakshmi Santosh Nagtanand Kevin Sequeira were present. They said that a team from the Samithi was meeting the Chief Minister tomorrow. Based on the outcome of the meeting women decided they would plan their next course of action.In the taluks, women chose sixteen locations for the ‘Rangoli Chaluvali’. Women gathered signatures for the letter to the Chief Minister demanding reversal of decision to handover the district hospital and the PPP medical college. They marched from all the different locations to the tahasildar offices and submitted the submitted memorandum through the tahasildar to the Chief Minister.They announced that women in 12 gram panchayat villages will continue this protest and extend it to the rural communities starting from Wednesday.Published - November 18, 2025 07:21 pm IST