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Bengal

Hakim offers to bear Rs 3.5L medical bill of newborn

Kolkata: In a rare gesture, Mayor Firhad Hakim has assured to clear the medical bill of a newborn amounting to around Rs 3.5 lakh. The baby has been admitted to the ICU of a private hospital in South Kolkata.

Mousumi Ghatak, a resident of Sainthia, Harisabha Gram Panchayat in Birbhum, called up Hakim through the Talk to Mayor programme on Wednesday and urged him for financial assistance. As it had become impossible for Ghatak's family to carry on with the medical expenditure of her newborn nephew, Hakim listened to her and got in touch with the manager of the private hospital, asking him to send the bill in his name.

The bill has reached a staggering amount of Rs 3.5 lakh. The hospital authorities have since informed the family members that they would not have to pay a single paisa for the baby's medical treatment, as it would be borne by the Mayor of Kolkata.

Arpita Ghatak gave birth to a child on Thursday. The child developed complications and was taken to Birbhum Sadar Hospital from where she was shifted to a private nursing home.

The nursing home referred the baby to another hospital in Durgapur. Finally on Saturday, the baby was admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata with problems in her lungs.

Though only problems related to civic issues for areas under KMC are discussed and resolved at the Talk to Mayor programme, Hakim took up the matter on humanitarian ground.

This is the rarest gesture by a Mayor of Kolkata under the new MMiC system, which was introduced in 1985.

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