Hospital says patient not eligible under IPF scheme

FIR AGAINST ADITYA BIRLA HOSPITAL

Complainant asks why the charity commissioner’s office considered his father for the facility

Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital (ABMH), that has been accused of holding a senior citizen hostage after he was unable to pay for his stay at the facility, has now claimed that all the allegations are baseless. The hospital claims that patient Dashrath Aarde does not fall under the Indigent Patient Fund (IPF) category as his son Sagar, who works in a private firm, has put the former’s name as a beneficiary in the Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).

Mirror carried stories titled, ‘Aditya Birla hospital accused of holding apatient hostage’ and ‘Wakad police register case against CEO of Aditya Birla Hospital’, on August 22 and 23, reporting that the cops had arrested Rekha Dubey, the hospital’s CEO, and Rajesh Dubey, managerial head. They were later released on bail. The hospital says that the police complaint was filed by Dashrath’s other son Sanjay with an intention to malign its reputation.

Talking to Mirror, Rekha said, “It is clear that the patient does not belong to the below poverty group and the claims made by his son Sanjay and social worker Aziz Shaikh are false. They were dishonest and acted surreptitiously against our management for getting free treatment. The entire agitation demonstrated by them was unwarranted and has caused damage to the reputation of the hospital as well as individual hospital management executives. How can they allege that Dashrath was held hostage when he was in the ward along with five other patients? We did not stop his supply of medicines and food either. The visitors’ pass given to Sanjay had expired and we were issuing a fresh one, but he didn’t turn up.”

The CEO continued, “If they are enrolled under ESIC, how can the patient be considered in the below poverty line category? We are surprised that they are enjoying benefits of the yellow ration card without being eligible for the same. How can they approach the charity commissioner’s office to get privileges of the IPF scheme?”

Dashrath was admitted on August 8 and discharged on August 11. According to his family, he was refused to meet them under Rekha’s instructions. Sanjay also registered an FIR under sections 344 (wrongful confinement), 323 (assault) and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) with the Wakad police.

Sanjay said, “We are three brothers, but the other two do not bother to take care of my parents. So, if I am not eligible for the IPF scheme, then why did the charity commissioner consider us under it?”

Shaikh added, “If the hospital thought it was being fooled by the family, they why didn’t it file a police complaint earlier? Let the authorities decide if the patient is eligible for the scheme or no, but holding him hostage is wrong. If the police registered an FIR, then there is some truth in the complaint. Visitors’ passes never expire; the hospital seized Sanjay’s pass intentionally.”