CM launches Sasthya Sathi to benefit 3 crore people

Stating that good behaviour along with medicine heals a patient faster, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said health service is not a “product for sale” and appreciated the way doctors and nurses in government-run hospitals work to serve the common people.

Banerjee on Friday felicitated renowned doctors and professors including Dr Srikumar Mukherjee, Dr Sudarshan Ghosh Dastidar and Dr Tridip Banerjee. She also handed over the Sasthya Samman Award to doctors and nurses. The award winning doctors and nurses have also got cash reward of Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 each respectively. She also inaugurated Vivekananda Park situated beside SSKM Hospital from the same programme at Netaji Indoor Stadium.

While addressing the programme she said: “We have to serve the people by ensuring good health services for them. Already ICUs have come up in many places including Darjeeling. I have asked them to ensure that there should also be ICUs in Digha where thousands of tourists turn up. ICUs should also be set up in Bakkhali as well.”

She said that 3 crore people will get benefitted by the Sasthya Sathi Scheme that was launched on Friday.

The health workers including Self Help Group members, ICDS workers, ASHA workers, and civic volunteers will get the benefit of the scheme.

Each of them would get the benefits of Rs 1.5 lakh through insurance and up to Rs 5 lakh for certain critical diseases like cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

All pre-existing diseases will be covered under the insurance and Rs 200 will be given to a patient while getting discharged from hospital as transport allowance.

There will be around 500 hospitals including the private ones where the beneficiaries would get treatment under the scheme. Each of the beneficiaries were given a 64 kb enabled smart card top avail the facilities of the scheme and there are helpline number 1800-345-5384 and an app called Sasthyasathi mobile app to assist the beneficiaries.

Banerjee further said that various steps were taken to improve the health services in government-run hospitals and it includes recruitments of doctors. Recruitments of another 7,000 doctors are in process.

She criticised the Centre for increasing the price of essential commodities. But Bengal government have set up fair price medicine shops and pathological centres, she added.

She further said that the state government has also urged the doctors who practice in private hospitals to give at least 2 hours time in state-run hospitals and applications in this regard have already been received.

She further said that institutional delivery has increased to 92 per cent. “Our target is to reach 100 per cent,” she said.

She also directed the administration to initiate Sasthya Samman Award in district and block level as well.