No funds, cardiac patient left in lurch

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, November 30

Padmawati, a 60-year-old widow of Tanda Rajpur village in Palampur, has been moving from pillar to post for her medical treatment for the past 15 days but none has come to her rescue.

Padmawati is a heart patient. Her son Sarabjit, a daily wager, took her to Tanda medical college last week. The doctors suggested immediate angioplasty because of the blockade in her coronary arteries. They asked him to deposit Rs 2 lakh for the procedure. However, Sarabjit was unable to pay the huge amount, therefore the doctors did not operate on his mother.

Though the state government time and again claims that it is extending free medical treatment to the poor, but it seems the benefits of government schemes are only on the paper and yet to reach the needy and poor.

A Tribune team today called on Padmawati at her native village, five km from Palampur, where she is living in a small mud house along with her son. She was suffering from a cardiac problem for the past few months.

Doctors at the Palampur Civil Hospital referred her to the TMC, where she remained admitted for a few days. But the doctors discharged her without the necessary procedure because they were unable to deposit Rs 2 lakh, she rued.

Padmawati is still on oxygen. Parminder Bhatia, president of a local organisation, provided her with an oxygen concentrator.