I am a commoner, says CM after collecting Swasthya Sathi card standing in queue

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday collected her Swasthya Sathi card standing in a queue like all others from a Duare Sarkar camp at Jai Hind Bhavan on Harish Mukherjee Road in South Kolkata.

She left a message while interacting with the people at the camp, that she "is also one of the common citizens out of 10 crore people in the state" and that is why she came to collect her Swasthya Sathi card as all others are doing to derive its benefit.

Health Secretary Narayan Swarup Nigam handed over the Swasthya Sathi card to the Chief Minister, who was accompanied by Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay. State Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim was also present.

People present at the camp expressed their gratitude towards Banerjee for collecting her card just like them despite holding the top administrative post in the state.

The Chief Minister had said on Monday while interacting with the media that she decided to take a Swasthya Sathi card as a mark of solidarity towards the initiative that comes as a saviour to lakhs of people during a medical emergency.

The state government has extended the health scheme for the entire resident population of the state from December 1. The major step, especially at the time of the pandemic, ensures a comprehensive and free family-floater health coverage for cashless secondary and tertiary medical care up to Rs 5 lakh per year. No payment is charged from the beneficiaries as the state government is paying the premium and the concerned insurance companies are bearing the cost of the treatment. The state government is bearing an expense of around Rs 2,000 crore per year for the scheme.

Out of 12 state-run schemes in Duare Sarkar camps, the state government received the highest number of applications for Swasthya Sathi cards. It was around 53 lakh people, who had applied for the same, till the end of the second phase of Duare Sarkar camps.