The Punjab authorities is claiming it was working on, so to talk, a kneed-to-know foundation. As per the Opposition, that declare has no legs.
On Saturday, a tableau by the state Well being Division on the Independence Day parade in Ferozepur, attended by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, featured 5 males dancing the bhangra and recognized by the announcer as “beneficiaries who had undergone knee-replacement surgical procedures underneath the Mukhmantri Sehat Bima Yojana”.
Solely, the 5 are retired Well being Division workers, who have been dancing on sturdy knees very a lot their very own.
Because the details trickled out, Ferozepur Civil Surgeon Dr Meenakshi Dhingra stated they did nothing flawed. The contributors, she stated, have been “a part of a symbolic illustration and weren’t being offered as precise sufferers”.
Because the tableau, with 20-odd individuals, handed in entrance of CM Mann and others, the announcer stated in reference to 5 males dancing to Babe Bhangra Paunde Ne: “These males are performing bhangra as a result of they’ve efficiently undergone procedures for knee alternative underneath the Mukhmantri Sehat Bima Yojana.”
The tableau was meant to spotlight the achievements of the Well being Division, significantly to depict the advantages that might be availed for cashless remedy as much as Rs 10 lakh.
The 5 males have been Suresh Kumar, Pritam Singh, Sarwan Singh and Malkiat Singh, all retired Well being Division drivers, and Satpal Singh, a retired multipurpose employee. On Monday, telephones of all of them have been switched off they usually couldn’t be reached for remark.
Kumar, who spoke to the media earlier, stated: “We’re 5 retired workers. My knees haven’t been changed, I can’t communicate in regards to the others. We have been requested to carry out.”
On why they didn’t use actual beneficiaries, Civil Surgeon Dhingra stated: “They can’t be recognized in public. We’d have by no means performed that.”
The 26 contributors within the tableau, she added, have been meant to depict totally different well being schemes of the division, together with for knee transplants. “These performing bhangra have been simply exhibiting how the insurance coverage scheme has helped the individuals,” she stated.
Well being Minister Dr Balbir Singh informed The Indian Categorical that the aim was to unfold consciousness in regards to the medical procedures lined underneath the Mukhmantri Sehat Bima Yojana. “I don’t perceive why the controversy,” he stated, including that one ought to take a look at the figures as an alternative of knee replacements underneath the programme.
He stated: “9,971 individuals have undergone knee-replacement procedures underneath the scheme, with the federal government spending round Rs 79 crore on such remedy.”
Singh added: “Knee alternative is among the many 10 most typical procedures lined… The tableau was only a message for the individuals. Now, even the layman understands that they’ll get knee alternative performed and lead a standard life.”
The federal government is planning related displays to create consciousness about procedures resembling liver and kidney transplants, cardiac stents and open-heart surgical procedures, he stated.
Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY Mukhmantri Sehat Bima Yojana, launched in August 2019 underneath the earlier Punjab authorities, is a flagship scheme which claims to offer cashless medical health insurance to 65% of the state’s inhabitants.
Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring stated Mann ought to situation an apology to the individuals over the difficulty, Balbir Singh ought to resign, and motion taken towards officers concerned within the presentation. He described the episode for example of the Aam Aadmi Social gathering’s “reliance on drama and theatrics”.
Chief of the Opposition and Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa additionally described the tableau for example of the Punjab mannequin of governance underneath the AAP – “huge claims, larger publicity”. “The reality finally catches up.”
Shiromani Akali Dal chief Bikram Singh Majithia stated it was flawed that the AAP authorities had used Independence Day celebrations for “false propaganda”, and stated Punjab’s hospitals want docs, medicines and higher remedy fairly than publicity.
