JEYPORE: A heart-wrenching incident in Ganjaipadar under Koraput block has highlighted the plight of a destitute father who was compelled to bring back his ailing six-year-old daughter from the hospital without treatment as her name was not mentioned in the health benefit scheme Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) card.
Bhumi Sagaria, a six-year-old girl, developed a significant abscess near her neck, forcing her parents to rush her to the Koraput Medical College Hospital for treatment. However, doctors recommended surgery and suggested her father take her to a better facility for the same. Bhumi’s father, Ghasi Sagaria, rushed her to a private hospital, Pinnacle in Visakhapatnam, for treatment. After a health assessment, the hospital informed Ghasi that the treatment cost would be Rs 20,000 and asked them to pay.
Ghasi presented the BSKY card and requested the hospital to proceed with the treatment. However, the hospital refused, citing that the girl’s name was not listed on the card. Despite Ghasi’s pleas and the presence of the girl’s Aadhaar card, which included the family address and parents’ names, the hospital declined to treat her.
This, despite the fact that the state government had recently notified and approved to extension of the BSKY benefits to the child members of NFSA/SFSS families whose names are not in the database on production of documentary evidence by the parent to support the claim that the individual being treated is their child. The Health and Family Welfare department had also informed all BSKY-empanelled hospitals to extend health coverage to the beneficiaries, aged five to 18 years as per the documentary evidence submitted by their parents.
Ghasi returned to Koraput and began seeking assistance for his daughter’s medical treatment. “The Visakhapatnam hospital turned us away without treatment, citing that my daughter’s name was not mentioned on the BSKY card, even though I repeatedly pleaded that she could be treated with my daughter’s Aadhaar card as proof. I am a daily wager and have no money to pay for treatment,” lamented Ghasi.
On Friday, Ghasi met Koraput block chairman Namita Majhi and requested her help for his daughter’s treatment through the BSKY scheme, as he had no financial resources. The chairman assured him that she would take up the issue with the Koraput collector and sub-collector for necessary action. Koraput sub-collector Benudhar Sabar assured us to address the matter as early as possible.