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PMC serves notices to property owners and beneficiaries of urban poor health scheme
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has served notices to around 4,000 citizens who paid property tax while availing the benefit of the urban poor health scheme, originally meant for poor citizens
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has served notices to around 4,000 citizens who paid property tax while availing the benefit of the urban poor health scheme, originally meant for poor citizens.
The urban poor scheme is meant for those who have less than Rs1 lakh income per annum. PMC assumes that those who are pay property tax means they have their own home and enough income source.
In its notice signed by health officers, PMC stated, “As the people owne a house in Pune city, it means their family income is surely more than Rs1 lakh per annum and they have duped the municipal corporation to take the benefit of the scheme.”
The health department asked those people to submit their reply within a week to the notice served by PMC.
Shiv Sena leader Vishal Dhanwade said, “PMC issued around 4,000 such notices. Instead of issuing notices to the citizens, ideally the PMC should ask the district administration about how they issue the income certificate?”
Dhanwade said, “The income certificate is issued by district administration. If people took the benefit of the urban poor health scheme, it means they are needy and can’t afford the medical bills. There is no scheme for middle class people who use to pay all the taxes.”
Shiv Sena demanded to withdraw all such notices within a week and stop torturing citizens, otherwise, Shiv Sena would do agitations.
One of the official from the health department confirmed on anonymity, “The health department had done a scrutiny of the people who took the benefit of the urban poor scheme. It was found that many people having higher income are taking the benefit of this health scheme. Under this scheme, citizens can take the treatment in private hospitals. PMC use to bear 50 per cent of medical cost and rest of the bill should be paid by the concerned person. It is a very popular scheme. As many citizens found paying property tax and showing income below Rs1 lakh, the PMC is issuing notices to them.”
Hindustan Times in its report on June 11 highlighted how around 1,900 people are under the scanner for availing benefit of the scheme.
Additional commissioner Rubal Agarwal told Hindustan Times that the PMC is reviewing all the three schemes. As many as 12,000 citizens benefited from the urban-poor scheme in 2020 with PMC probing the financial condition of these beneficiaries and whether they have properties in their name. Of the total beneficiaries, 632 beneficiaries have been found to have properties in their names, Agarwal had said.
