The Karunya Benevolent Fund, which provides financial assistance to under-privileged people suffering from acute ailments and for palliative care, by raising funds through Kerala Lotteries, will be extended to organ donors, Finance Minister K M Mani said here on Wednesday. He was addressing a meeting convened to proclaim the disbursement of Rs 200 crore to 20,000 patients in the last 20 months, under the Karunya Benevolent Fund.
The scheme for extending the fund to organ donors is being worked out and will be soon presented before the Cabinet for approval, the Minister said. Mani also announced that financial aid would be given to haemophilia patients for their follow-up treatment, apart from the Rs 2-lakh aid given now.
“As Health Minister V S Sivakumar had pointed out that the financial help of Rs 2 lakh now given to haemophilia patients was not enough, these patients will get help from the Karunya scheme with respect to their hospital bills,” he said.
Stating that the Karunya Benevolent Fund was a major project of the UDF Government that was not tied in red-tapism, he said that the Rs 200 crore disbursed to 20,000 patients in 20 months time was a great achievement.