IMA seeks extension of Rs 50 lakh PMGKP insurance scheme for COVID martyrs by 6 months

IMA has also expressed its concern over families of only 168 doctors, out of at least 756 who died during Covid-19 duty in India receiving the benefit of the PMGKP insurance scheme that was introduced by the government with the objective of enabling the families f martyred health care professional to receive financial support to the tune of 50 lakhs. The total number of claims settled is 287, which suggests that families of only 119 healthcare workers across other categories have benefitted from this.

The association also suggested that the beneficiary should directly receive the benefits of this PMGKP as soon as the verification is done.

IMA lauded the efforts of the government for introducing the insurance scheme for the benefit of the health care professionals, however, it also pointed out that out of the 756 modern medicine doctors who had sacrificed their life, only 168 out of them could reach out to this benefit.

Dubbing the whole scenario as 'painful', IMA further added, "due to the stringent norms and the continued apathy in various administrative ladders it is painful to note out of the 756 modern medicine doctors who had sacrificed their life, only 168 out of them could reach out to this benefit, and totally only 287 health care professionals have received these benefits."

In a letter to Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary of Health and Family Welfare, IMA stated, " As the executive authority of the health care, when on the battle against the corona infection, our colleagues who have valiantly fought in the front line to save thousands of lives and reduce the public mortality by around 1%, is it not our responsibility to reach out to them proactively to recognize, honour and comfort them in lieu of their martyred forfeiture of life." Shedding some light on the current scenario, IMA further pointed out, " Indeed, there is an apparent delay from the families to seek help as most of them are shattered and engulfed in the procedural difficulty in getting the legal hire certificate, cause of death certificates, certificate of authenticity to prove they have worked in covid health care, and the rising pandemic. Many applications are still stacked up in Joint Directorates of their districts."

In response to the list and details of martyred doctors submitted by IMA, the Central Bureau of health intelligence has already taken up the responsibility to trace and verify the list of martyrs. Now IMA has appealed that once the verification would be done, the doctors should be directly authorized to receive the benefits of this PMGKP.

IMA cautioned that as the Pandemic second wave is spreading, the WHO has warned 14% of Health Care Professionals are likely to be infected and the mortality among them is much more than the general public. Hence, the association stated, " We need to keep this insurance option open and made it much more user-friendly. There is a growing shortage of doctors as they are overworked and stressed out, it is the responsibility of the Government to keep their morale high with adequate care and open-minded support."

"IMA has also appealed to extend the PMGKP insurance for another 6 months and to expedite and ease out the procedures bottlenecks and ensure all our health care professionals are recognized, honoured as martyrs, and adequately compensated for their dedicated services and comfort their families with motherly attitude", added the association.