BJP national president Nitin Gadkari has said that the state government should have a scheme on the lines of the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), since the current plans are not being implemented properly and poor people are dying due to lack of medical treatment.
Gadkari highlighted the case of two-year-old Vanshita Hirulkar, who died on October 21 since her parents were unable to get a cardiac surgery done due to lack of funds. Seven-month-old Aditya Sahu would meet the same fate if the government did not immediately arrange for adequate funds under the Jeevandayi Yojana, he added.
The BJP leader said that the government hospitals in Nagpur did not have proper facilities for heart surgery, and private hospitals were not ready to do the job at government rates. “The private hospitals say that Rs 70-80,000 sanctioned by government does not cover their costs, which is around Rs 1.5 lakh. Moreover, they do not get reimbursement for two to three years.
“The Central government sanctions Rs 1.27 lakh for bypass surgery and Rs 1.30 lakh for valve replacement under CGHS. However, norms for state government’s Jeevandayi Yojana vary from district to district, and as usual the most stringent criteria are for Vidarbha,” he said.
Gadkari said that in Nagpur the patient’s family was reimbursed the cost of disposable medical materials and life saving drugs under Jeevandayi Yojana. However, the intensive care unit (ICU) charges and anaesthesiologist’s fee was not covered under the scheme. “If the Centre can give Rs 1.30 lakh why can’t the state government?” he asked.
“The chief minister and chief secretary should personally review Jeevandayi Yojana and streamline it. The yojana should be implemented by the medical education ministry, since health care centres under the public health ministry do not have facilities for the operations,” Gadkari recommended.
The MLC also lamented that the condition of city hospitals was pitiable. They do not have adequate doctors and nurses. Medicines were rarely available and patients are forced to buy them from outside at exorbitant rates, he said.
Elaborating on the Hirulkar case, Gadkari said that the child needed Rs 1.5 lakh for the surgery but deputy director of health sanctioned only Rs 70,000 initially. Finally, at his insistence, the officer sanctioned the remaining Rs 80,000 but it was too late. Vanshita died a day after the second instalment was okayed.
Meanwhile, a despondent Arti Sahu, mother of Aditya, said that she was running from pillar to post to get her son operated. “All hospitals say that they won’t admit my son unless we deposit Rs 60,000.”
Read more: Mah should have CGHS-like scheme: Gadkari – The Times of India