Following a lull for nearly two years, cards under the Niramaya Health Insurance, which provides affordable health insurance to persons with physical disabilities, were issued at the Seva Bharati’s Chetana Child Development Centre here on Saturday. As many as 75 persons received the cards.
The Nirmaya Health Insurance scheme has been floated by The National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities, which comes under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Under the scheme, health expenses to the extent of ₹1 lakh, which includes a maximum of ₹ 70,000 towards hospitalisation, ₹14,500 towards out-patient charges, and ₹10,000 for ongoing therapies for reducing impact of disability and its complications, are reimbursed.
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Dakshina Kannada district officer for Empowerment of Differently Abled and Senior Citizens D. Yamuna said the local-level committee failed to process applications for Niramaya and other welfare schemes of the National Trust in Dakshina Kannada.
The committee was recently reconstituted and Seva Bharati has now been entrusted with responsibility to process the applications for Niramaya. Cards for all the 75 applicants have been issued, she said.
Ganaraj from the Seva Bharati said there is no enrolment fee for those from the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. For the non-BPL category, annual enrolment fee is ₹500. The scheme will be valid for a period between April and March and has to be renewed every year.
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Among those who received the Niramaya Health Insurance cards on Saturday included Parashuram, a photographer from Puttur. “I applied for the scheme two years ago for my daughter. This April, I received call asking for additional documents,” he said.
Member Secretary of Dakshina Kannada District Legal Services Authority (DKDLSA) Pruthviraj Vernekar, who gave away the cards, said it was important to reach out welfare schemes for the persons with physical disabilities.
“If any person with physical disability is facing issues in availing benefits, they can freely contact DKDLSA, which will provide all support for redressal of the problem,” he added.