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Uttar Pradesh govt may ease Vidhayak Nidhi rules on financial aid to poor patients
Uttar Pradesh govt is examining proposals to double medical aid ceiling, eliminate classification of eligible diseases, bypass district panel and allow aid from both CM Fund and Vidhayak Nidhi
In move that could find ready support across party lines, the Yogi Adityanath government is weighing a major relaxation in the rules governing the use of Vidhayak Nidhi (MLAs Local Area Development Fund) for medical expenses to poor patients, including a proposal to double the total annual ceiling for such assistance from ₹25 lakh to ₹50 lakh.
The proposed changes could give MLAs and MLCs greater flexibility in helping poor patients with serious and life-threatening ailments when it is needed urgently.
“The state government is examining four key proposals, including doing away with the existing disease-wise restrictions and allowing beneficiaries to receive assistance from both the chief minister’s Discretionary Fund and Vidhayak Nidhi,” a senior official dealing with the matter disclosed.
The chief minister’s office, according to him, has sought a definite view from the rural development department on all the four proposals, indicating that the government wants to take an early decision on the matter.
Sanjay Prasad, additional chief secretary to the chief minister, wrote to his counterpart in the rural development department, seeking a categorical opinion on the proposals at the earliest. The latter was subsequently forwarded to the commissioner, rural development for examination.
“We are examining the issues before we send a definite opinion to the government,” a senior rural development department official said.
The proposal to raise the medical assistance ceiling from ₹25 lakh to ₹50 lakh is to be particularly significant for legislators. At present, an MLA/MLC can spend a maximum of ₹25 lakh a year from the Vidhayak Nidhi to provide financial assistance for the treatment of poor patients suffering from any of the listed diseases.
The government is also considering doing away with the classification of diseases eligible for assistance. Under the existing rules, assistance from Vidhayak Nidhi is available for specified ailments including heart-related diseases and cardiac surgery, cancer, urinary diseases, orthopedic diseases and thalassemia.
Another proposal seeks to remove the district-level panel comprising the chief medical officer and other officials, which currently examines applications and recommends the amount of assistance required by poor patients.
The panel mechanism has been cited as a source of delay with recommendations in most cases taking several months to be finalised even as patients need immediate treatment.
The fourth proposal relates to the restriction on receiving assistance from both Vidhayak Nidhi and the CM’s Discretionary Fund. Under the existing provisions, a patient who has received assistance from one source is not eligible to receive the assistance from the other.
The government, according to officials, is examining a proposal to remove this restriction allowing poor patients to access assistance from both the funds the cost of treatment required additional support.
At present, an MLA or MLC can provide up to ₹5 lakh to an eligible poor patient, subject to prescribed conditions, including the incoming ceiling. The total amount that a legislator can spend from his Vidhayak Nidhi on medical assistance is capped at ₹25 lakh annually.
The issue has also emerged as a major demand before the 11-member committee headed by the UP assembly speaker Satish Mahana. The committee is examining legislators’ various demands concerning utilization of the Vidhayak Nidhi. The demand for increasing the ₹25 lakh ceiling figured prominently at the committee’s first meeting last Saturday (August 1).
