GUWAHATI: A state government hospital in Assams's Barpeta has decided not to extend free diagnostic services to pregnant women expecting fourth child or have more than three children.
Speaking to reporters, local MLA Ranjeet Kumar Dass, who serves as the president of the hospital's managing committee and Speaker of the Assembly, said that providing free healthcare facilities to pregnant women with three or more children would go against the objectives of the state's population policy.
"As a result, from July 1, pregnant women who already have three or more children will no longer be eligible for free services at the Barpeta First Referral Unit (FRU). They will have to pay the hospital registration fee, along with charges for X-rays, ultrasounds, laboratory tests, and other medical services," Dass said.
Dass appealed to Health Minister Ashok Singhal and the Health Department to implement this policy at all government-run hospitals in the state.
Assam has a two-child norm, enforced under the Population and Women Empowerment Policy that makes individuals with more than two children ineligible for government jobs, state-specific welfare schemes, and local elections.
The two-child norm was relaxed in December last year for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Tea Garden Tribes, Moran and Matak communities.