The Maharashtra government would be bearing the expenses of Remdesivir injections in private hospitals for the patients belonging to Scheduled Tribes, State Tribal Development Department Minister K.C. Padvi said on Wednesday.
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Mr. Padvi said Maharashtra was witnessing a rise in number of COVID-19 cases and this pandemic was not limited to urban areas but had spread to rural parts and even tribal hamlets. “Considering the lack of resources with the tribal population, the State government has decided to pay for the Remdesivir injection if administered in private medical facilities,” he said.
The minister said that he had approved the use of ₹10 lakh for every project officer of the integrated tribal development project from the nucleus budget of the department. “We will ensure that a shortage of funds does not cause hindrance to implementation of any tribal schemes. The department has allocated ₹172 crore solely to provide health-related facilities,” Mr. Padvi said.
The department has, however, applied certain criteria for providing free Remdesivir injections. Among those are, annual income of the beneficiary should be within ₹8 lakh and the private hospital should not have been enrolled in the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Aarogya scheme. Besides, primitive tribes, widows, deserted women, handicapped, and those below poverty line will be given preference.
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The nucleus budget is used for schemes which are not mentioned in the State Budget or don’t receive funds from the Centre.