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| Medical aid fund meant for Kashmiri migrants gathering dust | | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Nov 12
Even though Planning Commission sanctioned Rs 4 crores long back to the state government for bearing medical expenditures of displaced Kashmiri migrants suffering from chronic diseases yet not even a single individual has benefited from it.
Sources informed that the then planning commission member Sushma Choudhary some six years back had agreed to raise a corpus fund for the internally displaced families from Kashmir valley.
Under the arrangement the planning commission had to provide Rs 2.5 crores and the state government has to contribute its share of Rs 2.5 crores so as to meet medical expenses of Kashmiri migrants suffering from chronic ailments.
Sources added that the state government had even framed guidelines and chemotherapy, surgeries, kidney failures, pacemakers, liver and heart related treatments were kept in its purview.
However, six years later not even a single individual has been benefited from the corpus fund, for which the planning commission had gone a step ahead sanctioning Rs 4 crores, said sources, adding the state government had to contribute only Rs 1 crore.
Sources said that provisions were kept for meeting the recurring expenses of such migrants.
Former Chief Secretary and National Conference leader Vijay Bakaya said that the proposal was mooted after steep increase in chronic ailments among Kashmiri migrants was recorded.
He said, "Despite raising corpus fund and receiving Rs 4 crores from the centre, the state government has failed to contribute balance amount."
"A number of Kashmiri migrants suffering from various life threatening ailments registered themselves with the Relief Commissioner Migrants but the applications continue to gather dust," added the former Chief Secretary.
He said that government must wake up to the situation and implement the scheme in letter and spirit so that displaced families from valley can be benefited, adding "Fund from the centre be utilized for the purpose they were sanctioned."
It may be mentioned here that a migrant Class IV employee of Stores and Procurement Department Ashok Koul has been shuttling from post to pillar to have financial help for his son Vipul Koul, who has been suffering from a life consuming genetic disorder. Vipul has to undergo fifth surgery at AIIMS New Delhi, for which Ashok needs another Rs 20 lakhs.
The previous National Conference government had sanctioned nearly Rs 13 lakhs for the treatment of his lone child.
Expressing ignorance about corpus fund Ashok Koul said that being a government employee he has not applied through it.
"However, health minister Mangat Ram Sharma had assured me financial help from the government to save my son but so far nothing has come my way," he added. |
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