Day one of the new systems at Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim went on smoothly, but it threw up some unexpected questions when around 14 Goan patients refused to show their identity. It is mandatory for all Goans to either provide their Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana card or at least a photo identity card for availing free treatment at GMC. That was the only glitch on a day when the projected earnings were pegged at around Rs 2.7 lakh through surgical procedures of outstation patients and new registrations.
Going forward, it will be not the money alone but the efficacy of the system which has the Goan at its core, which will be put to test. The current system throws a big question mark on those who don't carry their DDSY card or proof of Goan identity while registering themselves. This is where the emotive issue of Goans proving themselves as sons of the soil comes into the picture. The influx of outsiders, and those availing of treatment at our government-run hospitals is so huge, that Goans are now jostling for recognition. In GMC alone there are on an average 40 percent non-Goans registered on a daily basis. Since the DDSSY cards are now linked to Aadhaar cards, a bio-metric verification system could be the best possible solution to avoid any sort of ‘identity' crisis.
Asking the Goan his identity to avail of free treatment doesn't change anything for the worse, except that it reflects the sorry state of affairs where the local has to be identified in a crowd which is slowly turning to a non-Goan majority with patients pouring in from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.
While the health sector is taking steps to work its way to the advantage of the Goan, there are areas which need redressal. A year back when the government floated its flagship DDSSY scheme there were several teething problems that surfaced subsequently. There were nearly 140 procedures of the 447 listed that have neither been carried out at private nor at government-run hospitals. Reviewing these procedures is a step in the right direction, but besides this there are several minor systemic tweaks that are required to make its functioning smoother.
The disadvantage to the Goan who swipes his DDSSY against the migrant who pays a percentage of the cost needs to be looked at. The swipe drastically brings down his balance of approximately Rs 2.5 lakh per annum against which he is availing treatment. Compare this against the non-Goan who will be paying a miniscule percentage of what is being billed as per the respective categories. Secondly, while the lower and middle class people undergo treatment at government-run hospitals, it comes as a bonus to the affluent class who always paid for treatment at private hospitals earlier.
Going forward, it will be not the money alone but the efficacy of the system which has the Goan at its core, which will be put to test. The current system throws a big question mark on those who don't carry their DDSY card or proof of Goan identity while registering themselves. This is where the emotive issue of Goans proving themselves as sons of the soil comes into the picture. The influx of outsiders, and those availing of treatment at our government-run hospitals is so huge, that Goans are now jostling for recognition. In GMC alone there are on an average 40 percent non-Goans registered on a daily basis. Since the DDSSY cards are now linked to Aadhaar cards, a bio-metric verification system could be the best possible solution to avoid any sort of ‘identity' crisis.
Asking the Goan his identity to avail of free treatment doesn't change anything for the worse, except that it reflects the sorry state of affairs where the local has to be identified in a crowd which is slowly turning to a non-Goan majority with patients pouring in from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.
While the health sector is taking steps to work its way to the advantage of the Goan, there are areas which need redressal. A year back when the government floated its flagship DDSSY scheme there were several teething problems that surfaced subsequently. There were nearly 140 procedures of the 447 listed that have neither been carried out at private nor at government-run hospitals. Reviewing these procedures is a step in the right direction, but besides this there are several minor systemic tweaks that are required to make its functioning smoother.
The disadvantage to the Goan who swipes his DDSSY against the migrant who pays a percentage of the cost needs to be looked at. The swipe drastically brings down his balance of approximately Rs 2.5 lakh per annum against which he is availing treatment. Compare this against the non-Goan who will be paying a miniscule percentage of what is being billed as per the respective categories. Secondly, while the lower and middle class people undergo treatment at government-run hospitals, it comes as a bonus to the affluent class who always paid for treatment at private hospitals earlier.
