Karnataka orders closure of Maha registration offices in Belagavi

The Maharashtra government had earlier announced a medical insurance scheme for the Marathis living in at least 865 villages of the district

The Karnataka government on Tuesday announced closure of the registration offices in Belagavi district for Marathis availing Maharashtra’s medical insurance scheme, people familiar with the matter said. Soon after the announcement, the Maharashtra government said that it will still continue implementing the scheme in Karnataka and the registrations can be done online.

The two states, Karnataka and Maharashtra, have been engaged in a border dispute for decades. (ANI/Image for representation)

The Maharashtra government had earlier announced a medical insurance scheme for the Marathis living in at least 865 villages of the district.The development came after Kannada organisations opposed the Maharashtra government implementing the medical insurance scheme in Karnataka.

Reacting to the closure of registration offices, Mangesh Chivate, special officer to Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Sindhe, said: “Despite Karnataka’s actions, Marathis in Karnataka can enrol in the insurance scheme through online registration”. Chivate conveyed this while meeting a delegation from pro-Maharashtrian organisation Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) during a meeting in Kolhapur district on Sunday.

The MES delegation had raised concerns with Chivate about Karnataka’s opposition to the scheme. Karnataka government had earlier this month closed all five registration offices in Belagavi that were established to assist Marathis in registering for the insurance scheme.

Maharashtra had planned to introduce the “Jyotiba Phule Jan Aarogya Yojana” for Marathis in Karnataka, particularly for the residents in border areas, in the first week of January. However, Karnataka opposed the scheme due to opposition from Kannada organisations and also issued notices to two hospitals in Belagavi that had implemented the scheme.

Following the opposition, Belagavi deputy commissioner Nitesh Patil had served notices to Arihant and KLES hospitals, which had entered into a pact with Maharashtra to implement the scheme. “Notices have been served to both hospitals instructing them to provide the relevant agreement documentation,” said DC Patil.

In addition to submitting standard documentation, Maharashtra had also made it mandatory for applicants to obtain a certificate from MES stating their Marathi linguistic identity. Based on the development, the Kannada Organisations’ Action Committee, led by Ashok Chanderagi, brought the issue to the attention of the Karnataka government, which instructed “the district administration to block the insurance scheme”.

Reacting to the closure of the offices, Chanderagi said, “We would never oppose Marathis from benefiting from such a health insurance scheme. However, we found some evil conspiracy in requiring a letter stating themselves as ‘Marathis,’ so we opposed the insurance scheme”.

He said while MES and Maharashtra may be aware of the state’s opposition to the insurance scheme, “the requirement for a certificate from MES raised suspicions”.

Chanderagi added: “Why did Maharashtra government ask the beneficiaries to declare themselves as Marathis through MES when MES is not a government-recognised association, and its certificate should not be mandatory to access the insurance scheme”. “Our organisation would have never opposed the health insurance scheme if providing an MES letter was not compulsory to access the scheme,” he added.

Maharashtra’s move to insist on MES certificates is seen as an attempt to support its claim in the Supreme Court that it has a larger population in Belagavi than Kannadigas. In 2004, Maharashtra filed a suit with Karnataka in the apex court, claiming rights to 865 villages, towns, including Belagavi, Karwar, and Bidar district headquarters, as part of its territory.