Bombay high court suggested to the state government to create a state-wide helpline within eight weeks for those in need of free medical treatment.
Move will help the poor get medical treatment easily; associate advocate general to oversee
MUMBAI: In a step to ensure easy access to medical treatment for the economically weak, the Bombay high court on Wednesday suggested to the state government to create a state-wide helpline within eight weeks for those in need of free medical treatment.
The court also asked Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, associate advocate general of Maharashtra, to look into the matter personally and design a scheme for the helpline and execute additional guidelines.
The court in 2006 approved a scheme where 319 state-sponsored charitable hospitals in Maharashtra were asked to credit 2 per cent of their gross revenue to an Indigent Patients’ Fund (IPF), which would be used for providing free or concessional treatment to poor patients. The court had also asked the hospitals to reserve 20 per cent of the beds for indigent patients, whose annual income was less than Rs25,000. The scheme was framed by a committee set up in response to a PIL filed by city advocate Sanjeev Punalekar highlighting the fact that charitable hospitals should provide free treatment to needy patients in lieu of the concessions granted by the government.
In an affidavit submitted to the court on Wednesday, Pandurang Bhujang, secretary of the Association of Hospitals, told the court that the committee of the legislative council of the state had issued certain directions to the hospitals in the state telling them to treat only patients from Maharashtra using the IPF. The legislative council, the affidavit said, asked the hospitals to verify ration cards of patients before administering treatment to them.
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