Aarogyasri patients shown the door for want of funds

Hyderabad: Several patients are being turned away by hospitals refusing to implement Aaryogasri scheme due to ‘low packages’ for the last four months. Worse, the TRS party’s flagship KCR Kit scheme is being fulfilled only partially with the cash incentive being elusive for the last six months now. The delays on account of insufficient funds have started impacting services.

“We have been refused treatment for dislocation of bone by two hospitals. Doctors at the second hospital we approached told us that the treatment package given by the government is less,” said Rusat Bi, visiting a private hospital in Kukatpally.

Telangana Arogyasri Network Hospitals Association (TANHA) which represented the issue of pending dues to the health minister two days back said that such an impact was only in the case of procedures which have less package cost. “In most other cases, patients are being treated but if our pending dues of roughly Rs 600 crores are not cleared soon, we can again land in a soup,” said T Hari Prakash, secretary, at the association.

KCR Kits Scheme, aimed at the well being of pregnant and lactating women and new born babies, was launched with the aim of improving institutional deliveries. Pregnant women who had enrolled for the scheme are eligible to receive Rs 12,000 financial assistance in three instalments, but the funds have not been given for the last six months now.

“My wife delivered our daughter three months back at Niloufer Hospital and although we received KCR Kit, the amount which was promised was not given to us. The kit would have costed less than Rs 500. The money was more important for us,” said S Saidulu, a daily wager from Mehdipatnam area.

Shaik Mustafa from Medchal tweeted that the amount promised has been pending with health officials for the last two months now and the file has seen no progress. Several others took to social media to vent their grievances and asked for some action to be taken. “We are seeing many people say that this scheme is useless without the cash incentive, but there is no fund for now,” said an official.