SHILLONG, May 7: The decision of the state government to link the MHIS health card with Aadhaar has made many lose out on the benefits, especially in rural areas.
Meghalaya, where the Aadhaar rollout had been opposed, still has about 40% of people without the document and hospitals not accepting the MHIS card without Aadhaar seeding has been a cause of concern for them.
On March 27, the Supreme Court said the government cannot make the Aadhaar card mandatory for the welfare schemes offered by it. It also said that the government cannot be stopped ‘from using Aadhaar in other schemes like the opening of bank accounts and filing of income tax’, media reports said.
United Democratic Party (UDP) leader and chairman of Meghalaya State Health Advisory Board (MSHAB), Mayralborn Syiem said, “There are many centrally-sponsored schemes for which the central government has made Aadhaar-linking mandatory. This should not deprive people access to PMAYG and other beneficiary schemes.”
He said this was not the case with MHIS-IV earlier. “We will try to address the issue so that people do not suffer,” he added.
Syiem felt Aadhaar should not be an issue for those who already possess the MHIS card. “Even for new enrolment, Aadhaar-linking should not be made mandatory,” he said.
He also pitched for setting up Ayush hospitals and clinics in the state for boosting medical tourism.
“There is a proposal. We have to follow up on having an AYUSH hospital in every district when the Centre is very supportive. We have to provide land and make a roadmap,” he said.
Acknowledging that the state has a rich heritage of traditional healers, he said the KHADC had made a proposal on traditional medicine, which should take shape in days to come.
“Let’s hope more initiatives will be undertaken to develop AYUSH hospitals in the state,” he added.
The Centre has approved the Meghalaya government’s proposal for setting up a Directorate of AYUSH in the state.
According to reports, the AYUSH Ministry has agreed in principle to sanction 13 of the 19 AYUSH health and wellness centres for Meghalaya proposed during 2019-20.
The state government had proposed another 22 health and wellness centres for fiscal 2020-21.
