JAIPUR: Another Congress government’s health scheme,
Mukhya Mantri BPL Jeevan Raksha Kosh (MMJRK), will end on March 31.
The scheme was launched by previous Ashok Gehlot government in 2009. Under the scheme, there were provisions for referring BPL patients to AIIMS and PGI, Chandigarh along with free treatment in government hospitals.
It is not the first scheme which will not be extended by the Raje government. Congress government’s
Shubh Laxmi Yojna has already been rolled back and it has been replaced by
Raj Shree Yojna, benefitting the girl child.
Giving reason of not extending MMJRK, the state government officials claimed that since there are similar
schemes for the benefit of people already in effect, they have taken the decision to roll back MMJRK as it was promoting duplication leading to loss of government funds.
But withdrawal of MMJRK will force more than 500 contractual employees, including computer operators, who were employed in MMJRK to find another job.
“There are schemes such as free medicine, free diagnostic test scheme and Bhamashah Health Insurance Scheme (BHIS). Even though there is BHIS, the government was paying for treatment for BPL patients under MMJRK. It was loss of fund of the government. So, the decision was taken to roll back MMJRK,” said Navin Jain, ex-officio director BHIS and mission director (state) National Health Mission (NHM).
The thalassemia patients were getting free treatment under MMJRK. Now, NHM has directed the Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation Limited (RMSCL) to include injection factor VII for thalassemia and haemophilia patients in the essential medicine list for making it available to such patients.
Besides, directions have been issued to the officials to make arrangement of diagnostic tests, which were earlier arranged free of cost under MMJRK for its beneficiaries, under free diagnostic test scheme. The directions says, if the tests are not available in hospital, arrangements will be done to provide the test free of cost to such beneficiaries of MMJRK from outside the hospital and the cost of tests will be spent from free diagnostic test scheme.
Besides, if MMJRK beneficiary is admitted to hospital needing implantation, it will be done under BHIS. But, if the implant is not covered under BHIS, the cost of the implant will be spent from the income of BHIS.
Former chief minister and national general secretary (Congress) Ashok Gehlot said that it is unfortunate that the BJP government has brought MMJRK scheme to an end, which was introduced by the
Congress government.
He said that the scheme proved as a blessing for BPL and other underprivileged families in treatment of chronic diseases. Under this scheme, government hospital provided free of cost treatment to beneficiaries in out-door and indoor wards. Under the scheme, childless BPL couples and those couples with less than Rs1 lakh income annually were provided with grants of Rs20,000 for their treatment.
Gehlot said that by rolling back the scheme, the government has done an act which is condemnable and people will give a suitable reply in the upcoming elections.
He said that BJP government has taken the decision on the backdrop of implementing Bhamashah scheme, which will hit the MMJRK’s beneficiaries hard.
