In an open letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, former Union Minister Dilip Ray has urged for empanelling more hospitals under Free Treatment for Trauma Fund (FTTF) scheme of the Government of Odisha which provides free treatment to road accident victims within 48 hours of the mishap.
Ray mentioned that so far out of nine empanelled hospitals of the State under the scheme, seven are in Bhubaneswar and one each in Cuttack and Rourkela.
Justifying his point for adding more hospitals, Ray wrote that the first 48 hours after an accident is very critical and timely treatment during the golden hours decides the fate of the victim. The FTTF in this regard is a very noble scheme and it needs to be expanded to more hospitals, he said.
Sundargarh district which has a population of over 23 lakh has only one hospital included in the scheme which is quite unfortunate, said Ray and urged the CM to consider empanelling more hospitals under the scheme in Sundargarh district in general and Rourkela in particular.
He also requested the CM to consider chalking out an action plan to introduce the scheme in every district. “Every life matters and introducing the scheme in every district of the state with adequate hospital empanelment would drastically reduce fatality rate due to road accident,” claimed Ray.
The cost incurred in the FTTF scheme for Rourkela is borne out of the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund and what better purpose could the DMF serve than to ensure free treatment for accident victim, Ray said.
Besides, Ray in his letter expressed his gratitude to the State Government for the outstanding work that it is undertaking to transform the sport infrastructure in the State.