By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The much-hyped Megha Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS) launched by the State Government recently has come under the scanner as various discrepancies have cropped up during the ongoing registration process in different localities across the city.
Beneficiaries have complained that there is much confusion as far as registration is concerned be it with the identity proof, unclear directions from the volunteers and the likes.
There have been instances when the latest EPIC cards issued in 2013, prior to the Assembly election in the State, have not been accepted by those who are responsible for the registering the beneficiaries. Many residents have complained that when they went to get their names registered for the health insurance scheme, they were denied the same as they had the EPIC issued in 2013 whereas the volunteers were demanding the 2007 EPIC.
Earlier, the government had stated that in order to avail this insurance scheme, a resident of Meghalaya has to produce any proof of his residential address, however, the situation is quite the opposite, as only those people who names were included in the voters’ list of 2007 are considered eligible to avail the scheme.
“I was previously staying in Ri-Bhoi and just before the 2013 election, I had applied for a new voter’s ID with RR Colony, Shillong as my present address and the same was included in the 2013 EPIC card. However, to my dismay, my EPIC was not accepted as they were demanding the 2007 EPIC,” BJP Meghalaya unit general secretary Dipayan Chakraborty said.
Chakraborty also pointed out to a recent incident at Nazareth Hospital where a patient was held back by the hospital authorities as he could not clear the hospital bill and was released only after full payment was made by the insurance company, few days after the matter was reported in a section of the press.
“The bill was cleared only after the matter was highlighted in the press but not everybody can afford to run to the media every time they face this problem”, Chakraborty said while questioning, “Where is the Health Minister and why is he not coming out with any clarification on the matter?”
Further, it was also alleged that the scheme which is meant only for non-government employees – both Central and State – is being availed by the government employees thereby depriving the real beneficiaries.
It may be also added here that though the State Government has named the scheme as the Megha Health Insurance Scheme, the cards issued to the beneficiaries mention that the insurance scheme is part of the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and the card is the property of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.
Complaints have also poured in that the volunteers who man the desk during the registration process are not friendly and very often applicants are turned away on some pretext or the other.
It has also been reported that there have been instances when some local legislators have interfered with the registration process even though the Government has made it clear that the scheme should been monitored by government officials.
Despite several attempts, concerned officials dealing with this scheme could not be reached for their reactions on the complaints.