Bhubaneswar: A health scheme named ‘Swavalamban’ meant for insurance of the health of physically-challenged population in Odisha is facing premature death as the Union Government has allegedly failed to provide their share of the funds.
The scheme was launched in 2015 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for persons with disabilities. The object was to provide affordable health insurances to persons with blindness, low vision, hearing-impairment, loco-motor disability, mental retardation, mental Illness and for those who suffer the after effects even after being cured from leprosy. The policy was launched to improve the general health conditions and quality of life for disabled persons.
However with no funds available from the Centre, the insurance company running the project has already written to the District Social Security Officials (DSSO) in some districts to discontinue the scheme. In the very near future it will also write to remainder of the DSSOs.
One such letter with Orissa POST, written by the insurance company to a DSSO read, “In May 2017, we received the 10% premium for the scheme from your side. As per the scheme, 90 per cent premium is to be contributed by the Centre. But the 90 per cent premium has not been given by the Centre and subsequently the scheme is discontinued.”
The state department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEDP) confirmed to Orissa POST about receiving similar letters at the DSSO level, but refrained from giving much information.
According to sources, the Union government is now mulling to merge the health insurance meant for the Divyangs with other upcoming insurance schemes of the government and thus has shunned the ‘Swavalamban’ scheme, making the beneficiaries vulnerable.
Under the scheme, the physically-challenged beneficiary and their family were covered to the tune of `2,00,000 on family floater for a period of 12 months for people in the age group of birth-65 years. It was available for persons with an annual income of `3,00,000 and below on declaration basis in proposal form.
Repeated phone calls and emails to the joint secretary of the Ministry of Social Justice for her reactions went unanswered.
Manish Kumar, OP