Karnataka - Bijapur   

Their plea was heard at last

Staff Correspondent

SOME SOLACE: A village elder making a point at the grievances redressal meeting held in Bijapur on Saturday

BIJAPUR: It was a great blow to marginal farmer Bhimu Lachmu Lambani and his family of Hadagali Tanda, 30 km from here, when his hip broke while working in a field three months ago.

He was admitted to the government hospital initially and was later shifted to a private hospital. He was hospitalised for weeks. The family borrowed money to meet the medical bill that crossed Rs. 17,000. Yet, he became disabled for life.

The family was told that they could claim a relief of Rs. 15,000 under "Raitha Sanjeevini", a Government-sponsored insurance scheme. They were asked to provide a list of documents, including revenue records, to get the benefit.

Then their real struggle began. Though they managed to get revenue records, they failed to obtain two vital certificates — one with regard to Bhimu Lambani's permanent disability and another proof of his age.

Deadline expires

The family members, especially his wife Motibayi and son Shrikant, were made to run from pillar to post but in vain. In between, the 60-day deadline to claim the insurance benefit expired. His son Shrikant, who came along with his uncle, narrated the story at the grievances redressal meeting chaired by R. Suresh, the Principal Secretary, DPAR (Grievances Cell) here on Saturday.

The officers' apathy also came to light in the meeting. The district surgeon said he would arrange for the disability certificate if the patient was brought to the hospital. However, the family members said Bhimu Lambani was completely disabled and had to be brought in a taxi that they could not arrange for.

Mr. Suresh asked the surgeon to send health officers to Hadagali Tanda, and issue certificates after a check-up. However, the surgeon said they had no provision to arrange for a vehicle for health officers to visit the tanda. Then, Mr. Suresh asked the officer from the Department of Health and Family Welfare but the answer was again "no provision". This time, he asked the Chief Executive Officer of the zilla panchayat, Rajeev Ranjan to make necessary arrangements.

The officer regretted that people were approaching Chief Ministers with umpteen complaints even for minor problems as they were not able to get justice from taluk and district-level officers. The trend should be arrested, he said.

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