The State Government has ordered a high level inquiry in the irregularities which allegedly occurred in preparation of health cards under Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojana (MSBY), claimed the Health Minister of Uttarakhand, Surendra Singh Negi while addressing newsmen here on Friday. He said that the MSBY is one of the flagship projects of the State Government and no leniency would be accepted in its execution.
On the question of instances where health cards of ineligible and dead person were prepared by the health department, the minister accepted that some mistakes could have occurred in the project. He said that 12.50 lakh families in the State would be covered under the ambitious scheme and since the process of making cards could take time, it was decided that the eligible people can avail benefit of the scheme by showing their identity cards.
The Health Minister said that the cover under the scheme would soon be increased to Rs2 lakh from present limit of Rs30,000. He said that State Government is planning to give training to midwives so that their services can be taken in rural areas. Negi accepted that the State health services is facing shortage of doctors but added that soon State Public Service Commission would invite applications for 1,000 posts of doctors. He rued at the fact that Central government has imposed a cut of Rs33,000 Crore in the budgetary allocation to the State health department. Negi added that the state government is committed to improve the health services despite all odds.