Swasthya Sathi: About 4K avail benefit at hospital in Vellore

kolkata: Swasthya Sathi scheme of Bengal government has become so popular that around 4,000 people from state availed its benefit to get treatment facility at Christian Medical College, Vellore in Chennai.

The scheme is applicable for hospitals outside Bengal, especially in Vellore and at AIIMS, Delhi.

Sources in the state government said from last October the scheme became operational in other hospitals outside the state and in the past year treatment facilities worth around Rs 40 crore has been provided to the people of Bengal under this scheme.

A senior official of the state government said: "Large number of patients are willing to get treatment at Christian Medical College and Hospital. As a result, the hospital authorities have set up four Swasthya Sathi help desks to guide the patients. As the patient load in Vellore has been increasing, the budget for Swasthya Sathi scheme should be increased as it is seen that patients with critical ailments tend to move outside Bengal to seek a second opinion from the doctors posted at various hospitals."

Swasthya Sathi was announced on February 17, 2016. The scheme was officially launched by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on December 30, 2016. It provides basic health cover to secondary and tertiary care up to Rs 5 lakh per annum per family. There is no cap on the family size and parents from both spouses are included.