Patients await release of grant under Sahara Yojana in Kangra

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, February 14

Many eligible beneficiaries of the Sahara Yojana are awaiting the release of grant from the state government for the past more than six months. The government had launched the scheme to provide a financial assistance of Rs 3,000 per month to patients belonging to the economically weaker sections of society and suffering from specified diseases such as Parkinson’s, malignant cancer, paralysis, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia and thalassemia etc.

Meant for patients suffering from life-threatening diseases

• The objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance as a social security measure to patients suffering from fatal diseases to mitigate hardships faced during prolonged treatment
• Sashi Devi, a resident of Ladoh village in the Panchrukhi area of Kangra district, is another cancer patient who has not got the grant under the scheme for the past six months
• CEO of the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana says that the entire system works automatically and the financial assistance is released to those beneficiaries who update their documents. SMSes in this regard have been sent to the beneficiaries to update their documents on a regular basis

The patients suffering from chronic renal failure or any other disease, which renders a person permanently incapacitated, have also been covered under the scheme. The main objective of the Sahara Yojana is to provide financial assistance as a social security measure to patients suffering from fatal diseases to obviate and mitigate hardships faced during prolonged treatment.

Raghubeer Singh, a resident of the Panchrukhi area of Kangra district, is suffering from throat cancer. He was enrolled under the Sahara Yojana during the stint of the previous BJP government. However, for the past few months, he has not got the Rs 3,000 grant. Raghubeer says that the grant he used to get under the scheme helped him afford the cost of medicines prescribed by the doctors.

Sashi Devi, a resident of Ladoh village in the Panchrukhi area of Kangra district, is another cancer patient who has not got the grant under the scheme for the past six months. She says that Rs 3,000 given under the Sahara Yojana helped her afford treatment for cancer. However, since the money has not been paid for the past six months, her life has become difficult.

Raj Kumar, yet another cancer patient from Ladoh village, has not got Rs 3,000 since August 2023. Being from a poor family, Raj Kumar has requested the government to release the grant at the earliest.

Anil Kumar, who is suffering from a brain tumour, is also waiting for the grant for the past one year. Ashwani Sharma, CEO of the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana under which the Sahara Yojana is run, says the beneficiaries need to update the medical certificate, BPL certificate or income certificate and the life certificate every six months. If not updated, the system automatically disallows the disbursement of the grant under the scheme, he adds.

He says that the entire system works automatically and the financial assistance is released to those beneficiaries who update their documents. The financial assistance up to January has been released. SMSes in this regard have been sent to the beneficiaries to update their documents on a regular basis, he adds.

Satish Sharma, who runs the NGO in the Panchrukhi area, says, “Most of the patients covered under the scheme are poor and illiterate. They are also suffering from fatal diseases. The government should help such patients update their records so that they get the Rs 3,000 grant under the Sahara Yojana regularly. He alleges that in many cases, people have updated their records at the local Lokmitra kendras but are still not getting the grant.