PUNE: Pune District Guardian Minister Chandrakant Patil has batted for creating a Non-Government Organization (NGO) type scheme, with the help of doctors, which will be beneficial for needy patients.
“I will say that the doctors giving treatment to needy patients in their budget is definitely a good thing. But you can connect people like us through which can create a NGO-type scheme. This will be apart from the things that the government is already doing and it can benefit the needy patients. The doctors and people like us can together think about such an initiative,” Patil said after inaugurating ‘UROKUL’, a 105-bedded single speciality hospital for urology, on the Pune-Mumbai Highway in Baner. The inauguration took place yesterday evening.
This is the only third specialized hospital dedicated to urology in the country, with the other two in Nadiad (in Gujarat) and Hyderabad (in Telangana). Senior Urologist Dr Sanjay Kulkarni and Dr Jyotsana Kulkarni, founders of UROKUL, Padma Vibhushan recipient and noted orthopedic surgeon Dr K H Sancheti, senior urologist Dr Deepak Kirpekar were present on the occasion.
Patil also threw light on the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme.
“Due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effort, the Ayushman Bharat scheme has started, which will benefit 50 crore people, who will not have to spend a single rupee for medical treatment. Under it, people will carry ATM cards worth Rs 5 lakh and the hospital bill will get deducted from it. Rs 5 lakh is provision for one year. Anyone in the family falls ill, he will get free treatment worth Rs 5 lakh. In the past one year, already 3 crore people have benefited from it,” Patil said, adding that when BJP was in power from 2014-2019 in Maharashtra, the then Chief Minister and current Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis concentrated on this program.
“Devendra Fadnavis also used Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds on a large scale and spent Rs 1,100 crores in five years for patients. He also started the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund,” Patil elaborated while asserting that people have now started supporting through CSR in a large-way.
Patil also said a portal has been started to generate funds for the needy patients and gave an example of a patient in Kolhapur in western Maharashtra, for whom Rs 30 lakh were collected.
