Two Belagavi hospitals to get notice over Maharashtra insurance

The deputy commissioner said notices will also be sent to the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) which started four centres in Belagavi for enrolment.

Belagavi Notices will be served to two hospitals in Belagavi that have adopted Maharashtra’s medical insurance scheme for Marathis in Karnataka, district deputy commissioner Nitesh Patil said on Thursday.

Kannada organisations have opposed Maharashtra’s implementation of the medical insurance scheme for Marathis in Karnataka. (ANI)

Kannada organisations have opposed Maharashtra’s implementation of the medical insurance scheme in Karnataka,

The deputy commissioner said notices will also be sent to the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) which started four centres in Belagavi for enrolment under the medical insurance scheme.

“Since the implementation of medical insurance policies from other states violates the Karnataka Public Medical Establishment Act, the district administration will serve notices to the hospitals and registration centres involved in the scheme in Belagavi,” Nitesh Patil sid.

“KLES Prabhakar Kore and Arihant hospitals have adopted the schemes. Hence notices will be served to them shortly, seeking clarification from them. They will be asked to explain under which clauses the schemes were implemented in the hospitals,” Patil said, adding around 30 people have enrolled themselves under the scheme .

“MES has initiated four registration centres in Belagavi, and notices will also be issued to MES for coordinating with Maharashtra on the insurance scheme,” the deputy commissioner said.

On the pro-Maharashtrian organisation MES’s suggestion, Maharashtra introduced the Mahatma Jyotibha Pule Health Insurance Scheme for Marathis in Karnataka. The scheme proposes to provide facilities in about a dozen hospitals in Belagavi, and beneficiaries can also avail of benefits in selected hospitals in Maharashtra.

MES spokesman Vikas Kalaghatagi said, “Insurance coverage up to ₹5 lakh would be given to enrolled Marathi citizens.”

Expressing concerns about Maharashtra’s alleged politics behind the scheme, a delegation of Kannada organisation leaders, under the banner of Kannada Organisations’ Action Committee, met Patil and submitted a memorandum to halt the scheme’s implementation, terming it “anti-state” with a conspiracy to exploit the matter for the border row with the state in the Supreme Court.

Committee convenor Ashok Chanderagi told reporters that the Maharashtra government made obtaining an “I’m a Maratha” certificate compulsory from MES to avail of the insurance benefit. He alleged that Maharashtra might enrol fake registrations to show a higher population in disputed places in Karnataka, supporting its claim to those areas.

Patil said that he instructed the health and family welfare department to gather information from both hospitals and collect copies of their memoranda of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government.

District health officer Dr Mahesh Koni said that he has asked both the hospitals to provide all details of the MoU. “I’ve instructed both the hospitals in Belagavi that implemented the Maharashtra insurance scheme to provide all correspondence, commencing from Maharashtra’s offer letter,” said Koni.