Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 20

As the Internet services continue to remain snapped in the Valley, many patients undergoing dialysis, especially those registered under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, a Centrally sponsored scheme, and having the golden card, have been at the receiving end.At Khyber Hospital in Srinagar, attendants of dialysis patients said they were facing problems as they had to shell out money for the procedure from their own pockets. Some patients, with meagre means, said it was getting difficult for them to pay for treatment. The hospital, which has no Internet connectivity, is not able to update the details of the patients online, as a result of which its payment remains withheld and it is asking patients to pay for the treatment.

Under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, chronic disease patients get Rs 5 lakh per year for treatment, medicines and tests.“For the first 15 days of the clampdown, when the Internet was not working, the hospital provided us the services, but then it asked us to pay for it,” said an attendant whose mother has to undergo dialysis two times every week at the hospital. He said the hospital had stopped providing them the services under the Central scheme because of the Internet gag. “Though the hospital has said that our money will be reimbursed, many patients are not financially sound and cannot afford the treatment. Each dialysis costs Rs 2,000 and each patient has to shell out Rs 4,000 per week for two dialysis,” he said.

The hospital administration said the health scheme was wholly dependent on the Internet. Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr Showkat Shah, said: “We have conveyed to the patients that we will not be providing services under the scheme. We have also written to the government. Our one-month agreement period is from September 7 to October 7. But if our money is released and the Internet is restored, we are ready to work.” The Deputy Secretary, State Health Agency, Ayushman Bharat Yojana, was unavailable for a comment.