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| Medical aid scheme for minorities launched | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, May 10: Directorate of Social Welfare has informed the general public that the Govt.of India, Ministry of "Social Justice and Empowerment" have launched a "Dr.Ambedkar Medical Aid Scheme".
Under the scheme, only the patients belonging to SC & ST community and having annual income up to Rs.1.00 lac.p.a. and suffering from serious ailments requiring surgery of kidney, heart, liver, cancer and brain or any other life threatening disease including knee surgery and spinal surgery are to be provided medical treatment facility.
The facility entitled for the patients belonging to SC and ST communities is highly appreciable. However, the formalities to avail of the total estimated cost of the treatment under the scheme are cumbersome and need simplification.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar,was the messiah for preaching equality of opportunities amongst all sections of the society, but ignoring the miserable condition of the patients belonging to communities other than SC & ST, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment have acted against the fundamental teachings of revered Ambedkar.
When India got Independence, in 1947, the literacy rate was nearly7 %.
Except for negligible percentage of population, people belonging to all the sections of the society were extremely poor and lived in miserable conditions.
However, after 64 years of Independence, concerned Ministry have not hesitated from discriminating against the helpless patients suffering from the same diseases and falling within the same income slab but belonging to communities other than SC & ST.
Union Government has passed an annual budget of RS.12.58 crore for the year 2011-12. Similarly the state govt. have passed an annual budget of Rs. 32240 crore for the year 2011-12 .
For budgeting, the resources are mobilized by taxing people belonging to all the sections of the society/raising loans etc.
If a negligible percentage of the budget is earmarked for this noble purpose thereby reducing the expenditure on non profitable schemes, thousands of families can be relieved from miserable conditions.
T C Sharma, a socio-political activist from Vijaypur constituency urges upon the Chief Minister, of the State Omar Abdullah and the MPs hailing from the state to plead for the cause of the helpless patients belonging to left over sections of the society at appropriate fora to remove this discrimination against the patients suffering from the same diseases and falling within the same income slab.
It is pertinent to mention here that under the Indian Constitution "right to life" is provided to all the citizens of the country without any discrimination.
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