Shimla, Jan 18 The Himachal Pradesh government’s ‘HIMCARE scheme’ has come under question following complaints of state’s apathy and indifference towards a cancer-stricken person, eventually leading to his death.
Devraj Sharma, who was admitted to hospital needed injections worth Rs 50,000 but he failed to get the same despite being a beneficiary of the HIMCARE scheme. His daughter Jahnavi Sharma has blamed and held the state government ‘responsible’ for his demise.
She also recorded a video, highlighting the ignorant behaviour of officials and blamed Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu administration for her father’s demise. It has gone viral, drawing widespread anger and outrage among the netizens.
In the video, she claimed that despite being a beneficiary of the HIMCARE scheme, they were denied injections costing just Rs 50,000, though the scheme providing medical insurance cover up to Rs 5 lakh.
"My father was undergoing treatment at IGMC (Shimla). Injections were needed for chemotherapy in the hospital, whose price was around Rs 50,000. We have a HIMCARE card but the hospital administration denied it. We couldn’t arrange injection. My father died because he couldn’t get treatment on time,” she said in the video.
“As we were not getting injections under the scheme, we also called up CM helpline number but received no help,” she further said.
The hospital has reportedly stated that the scheme was non-functional due to pending government payments.
Notably, the HIMCARE scheme provides cashless treatment to beneficiaries, up to Rs 5 lakh per year.
Devraj Sharma was the only earning person in the family.
The family is now demanding justice from the state government and also stern action against the negligent officials.
Jahnavi Sharma also contested the hospital’s claim that they had not paid the full premium of HIMCARE card.
“Our financial condition has worsened due to father's departure. I had paid the full premium for HIMCARE Card. But, the father died due to not getting the injection. Action should be taken against those who are behind this,” she demanded.
The incident has gained political traction as well, with Opposition training guns at Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and demanding his resignation.
Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur said that his government had started HIMCARE scheme to provide better healthcare but Congress government worked to end this scheme.
BJP said that since the time Congress came to power in the state, the health system has deteriorated.
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