Hundreds enrol for Arogya Karnataka on Day 1  

BENGALURU:  Day 1 of Arogya Karnataka saw citizens lined up in front of counters in KC General Hospital, Malleswaram, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) Hospital on Victoria Hospital campus. KC General Hospital issued 174 Arogya Karnataka cards, Jayadeva issued 122, while PMSSY Hospital issued 93 cards. 

McGann Hospital in Shivamogga issued 169 cards, Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences 93, SNR Hospital in Kolar 401, Wenlock Hospital in Dakshina Kannada  60 cards, Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Ballari, 25 cards, Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Dharwad, 21 cards, and Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, 17. Health activists decried the scheme for various loopholes like lack of outpatient coverage and lack of diagnostic facilities in taluk hospitals that will lead to increased referrals to private hospitals and the ample scope for corruption that the scheme provides for it hinges on a referral system.

Arogya Karnataka is neither new nor universal, said health activists. “Taluk and district hospitals don’t have functional ultrasound let alone MRI or CT Scan ... so patients have to be referred to private hospitals. Funds to the government facilities will be deposited in the Arogya Raksha Samitis. They are neither accountable nor transparent in their functioning,” said Akhila Vasan, convenor, Karnataka Janarogya Chaluvali.