CM's santwana yojana gives new lease of life to accident victims

MANGALURU: The much touted Mukhya Mantri Santwana Harish Yojana that provides aid to road accident victims, has helped 1,844 such victims in Dakshina Kannada district from April 1 to September 30.
The scheme assures a road accident victim that the state government will spend up to Rs 25,000 on their treatment in the first 48-hours of the accident at the nearest empanelled hospital and ensure that lives are not lost due to lack of medical help.
Started with the idea of providing the much needed initial relief not just to the victims, but also to their kin, the scheme recognizes the fact that accidents are most traumatic - both physically and financially for middle and lower income group of families.
CM Siddaramaiah had announced this scheme in the state budget of 2015-16 and Rs 1.16 crore has been spent in DK in the above mentioned period.
It was the brainchild of then minister for health and family welfare U T Khader. The santwana scheme takes into consideration the need to provide emergency life saving treatment at the time of accident. Majority of road accident victims die due to unavailability of treatment in hospitals in the crucial hour, due to financial trouble. "Victims usually are alone and not able to provide contact details of their family members at that moment," Khader said.
The department of health and family welfare is implementing this scheme through Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust. The scheme applies to any road accident victim within geographical boundaries of the state and victims will be taken to the nearest hospital. The scheme does not distinguish the financial status of the victim, also it overlooks the nationality and domicile of the victim.
The 48-hour period is generally the time when relatives of victims reach out to them, Khader points.
In Dakshina Kannada, out of the 1,844 victims of road accidents, 618 were provided treatment at government hospitals including 580 in District Wenlock Hospital, with the government spending Rs 24.98 lakh. The remaining 1,226 victims were treated at private hospitals in the district and the government spent Rs 91.76 lakh for their treatment. While there are 16 empanelled hospitals in Mangaluru taluk, Puttur has seven, Bantwal and Beltangady five each and Sullia has two.