Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Implement health insurance scheme: Oommen Chandy

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy ended his 24-hour fast on Saturday morning, but with the warning that the UDF would go on an indefinite fast if the Government does not act quickly to check the chikungunya outbreak and to implement the Centrally-supported health insurance scheme.

Addressing a news conference immediately after calling off his fast, Mr. Chandy accused the Government of having shirked its responsibility of providing medical care to the affected people because of its insistence on not implementing the health insurance scheme chalked out by the UDF Government. Although a year had elapsed after the LDF Government promised a new health insurance scheme, nothing had come of it so far, he said.

Mr. Chandy said there was no meaning in the LDF Government’s insistence on denying participation to private insurance companies in the scheme, as the Centre had changed the norms for participation allowing even private insurance companies to be partners in the initiative. The UDF Government had found that the involvement of private insurance companies resulted in a lower premium and therefore a lighter burden on the people.

He did not also see much merit in the LDF Government’s argument that the scheme could not be implemented as there was divergence in the Central and State estimates of the total number of below-poverty line (BPL) families in Kerala. While Central estimates had put the total number of BPL families at 15 lakh, the State had estimated it to be 25 lakh. The UDF had taken up the matter with the Prime Minister and sought support for the entire 25 lakh families. It was even willing to subsidise their premium if the Centre was not willing to support. The LDF was taking cover under technical arguments only to delay implementation of the scheme, he alleged.

The Opposition leader also came down heavily on the State Government for what he termed its failure to provide relief to the people who had suffered heavy losses on account of monsoon havoc. The State Government was citing Central norms for not being able to give substantial sums of money for loss of houses and cultivations. The Centre had amended the norms to enable the State to pay up to Rs. 1 lakh to all persons, regardless of age, who die in natural calamities and up to Rs. 25,000 for loss of houses as against the earlier Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 15,000 respectively.

The Government had woken up to the new norms only when the Opposition pointed it out. Still, the District Collectors had not been given instructions till this morning on this. Mr. Chandy said if the LDF leadership decided to hold any agitation in Delhi, UDF leaders would hold a dharna at the Martyrs’ Column in Thiruvananthapuram because the LDF campaign was meant only to cover up its failure to act quickly and mitigate the sufferings of the people.

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