Ka Sur u Paidbah ka Bri u Hynniewtrep (KSUP) has reiterated its demand for free treatment for Covid-19 patients.
A decision in this regard was taken at a recent online meeting to discuss various aspects relating to the welfare of the general public during the ongoing pandemic.
Although some costs of Covid treatment in hospitals is covered under the Megha Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS), KSUP spokesperson Thomas Passah said today that the organisation wants all Covid costs taken care of by the government, especially for the poorer sections of society.
He also said that the government needs to do more to reach out to those who do not have ration cards, a situation the KSUP has found plenty of examples of in rural areas.
“The reason (for not having a ration card) is that most of the households, under the direction of the authorities concerned, have surrendered their old BPL (below poverty line) card so that new cards can be issued to them under the [National Food Security Act], however, most of these applications are pending with the authorities in the state government. Therefore, these households are not able to avail the benefits from the scheme,” Passah said.
On the plight of farmers, the KSUP acknowledged the steps taken by the Agriculture Department in allocating specific places where farmers can come and sell their produce. However, Passah said, car passes are hard to acquire by the farmers to get to these sites from their villages.
