Uttar Pradesh Congress president, Nirmal Khatri threatened to launch an agitation in the State if Akhilesh Yadav’s government fails to provide `Smart Card’ to poor people who were entitled to get benefit out of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s ambitious health plan `National Health Insurance Scheme’ (NHIS).
Several lakh people in the State are deprived off the benefit of NHIS just as the state government took no interest in distribution of Smart Card and bringing the beneficiary under the above health insurance cover",alleged Nirmal Khatri while threatening the State government of launching a state-wide agitation on the issue. He said that the above scheme is almost a non-starter in the State which could be otherwise turned out be a major help for poor persons suffering from chronic diseases.
Nirmal Khatri claimed that initially the central government forward the above health insurance scheme to those labourers who were enrolled under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employee Gurantee Act, and had worked
for minimum of 15-days the figure of which comes to over 30 lakh in the State but surprisingly, the State government forwarded benefit to just 28,000 persons which reflects the sincerity of the government. He claimed that now the benefit of this scheme has been also extended to Street Vendors, Servants and Domestic Help, Railway Coolies etc which have population running into several lakhs in the State so the Government must take immediate measures to pass on the benefit.
Nirmal Khatri alleged that poor persons spent most of their income on health treating their chronic diseases but if the Samajwadi Party government had forwarded benefit of the above scheme to them they could at least get a cover of Rs 30,000 which might meet out their annual health expenses.
However, according to Nirmal Khatri, the Samajwadi Party government just make fake claims that they were the well-wishers of poor and down-trodden section of the society when the truth was contrary to it. UPCC president threatened that now he dispatched a letter to chief minister
Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday afternoon, asking him either to take some immediate measures to forward the benefit of the above or be ready to face the state-wide agitation by the Congress activists.