JIPMER levied user charges from poor patients, Puducherry L-G denies allegations
Puducherry: Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday said it is wrong to say that the poor were levied user charges by JIPMER, denying accusations that the centrally administered health care facility was charging poor patients for advanced medical services.
Soundararajan was making a reference to the agitation the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi had staged against the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), accusing it of collecting user charges from patients not covered under Ayushman Bharat or those from the Below Poverty Line category.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event of the Postal department here, the Telangana governor, who holds additional charge as Lt Governor of Puducherry, said JIPMER serves not only patients from the Union Territory but also those from other states.
The hospital has been taking care of patients and the poor are never levied any user charge, as "wrongly" alleged by some political parties.
"The poor are not levied any such charge. If they have remitted the fees, I will intervene and ensure the return of the fees," she said.
Soundararajan added that political parties from Tamil Nadu should not cause any hardship to patients visiting the hospital by staging demonstrations.
"Let party leaders from Tamil Nadu concentrate on their respective constituencies. There will be no justification for any unnecessary agitations in Puducherry," she said in a veiled reference to the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi protest.
Soundararajan asserted that JIPMER is performing well for the betterment of the health of the people and there "is no truth in the allegations against the institution".
Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that Chief Minister N Rangasamy said a Siddha college-cum-hospital would be established in the Union Territory soon. Replying to a question tabled by Independent MLA G Nehru in the Assembly, the Chief Minister said the college-cum-hospital would come up at the cost of Rs 50 crore on land covering an extent of five acres.
