The district health department’s action on Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojna (MSBY) is a classic example how callous Government officials can make a mess of any project. The department worked on a snail’s pace on the ambitious scheme initially but worked in such haste after rebuke from the Chief Minister’s office that health cards of many ineligible people are also prepared.
It is learnt that health cards for many senior Government and police officers who otherwise are not eligible for the scheme were are also made by the department. Now the red-faced department has accepted its mistake and is screening every card before its final delivery. The department officials are blaming the Third Party Administrator (TPA) of the insurance company for the folly.
The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat, had launched the MSBY amid much fanfare on the Republic Day this year. The scheme was implemented from April 1. The health department had ample time for the survey of beneficiaries and preparation of the cards from February to March but it dilly-dallied on the work and started the process only in the first week of April.
Thereafter the department worked in frantic pace after the CM’s office intervened on the slow pace of survey and in the ensuing frenzy to complete the work cards of thousands of such people were also made who were not qualified for the scheme.
When contacted, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Dehradun, Dr S P Agarwal, told ‘The Pioneer’ that the mistake occurred at the end of the insurance company. He said that the Asha workers have been asked to screen the cards before delivery and stop dispatch of the card to any ineligible person.
While the district health department had a target of 325154 families for the scheme, the department conducted survey of 358123 families and data entry of 185010 families was done till Monday. The insurance company has handed over 125330 cards to the department out of which it has already distributed 60673 health cards.
A department official claimed that it appears the TPA entrusted with the preparation of the cards ignored the survey forms and made the cards directly from the electoral rolls due to which the glaring mistakes occurred in their preparation.
It is worth mentioning here that income tax payers, Government employees and pensioners are not eligible for the scheme. This scheme aims to provide a medical insurance cover of Rs 50000 per family per year and includes both the below and above poverty line families. The members of the covered family can get free treatment at any of the listed hospitals under the scheme. The State Government has declared its intentions to increase the insurance cover to Rs 2 lakh.
Interestingly, the health department has no checking system to weed out those who would fraudulently try to avail the benefit of the scheme. One of the officials said that the department should have added a column of PAN number in the form, which would have ensured that ineligible people are not added in the scheme.