RTI REVELATION
Are our MLAs sick? Medical bills Rs 5 crore
RTI Reply: Govt Has No Info On Their Diseases
N D Shiva Kumar | TNN
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIBG&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&AW=1262923741578
Bangalore: Our elected representatives are quick to point out how low their
salaries are. But what’s not disclosed is the hidden perks they enjoy.
For example, in a society where universal healthcare is a distant dream, MLAs
receive life-time free medical aid from the government for their families and
themselves even if they make it to the Vidhana Soudha just once.
When the figure is totted up, it works out to a hefty sum: Rs 5.2 crore, for
example, between January
2007 and October 2009 in Karnataka. An MLA has availed of Rs 17.68 lakh from
the government as medical reimbursement in just 10 months! The best part is the
government has no clue about the disease he is suffering from.
Ashok Mahadevappa Pattan (P M Ashok), a Congress MLA from Ramdurg in Belgaum
district, is the man who has received this sum after submitting bills.
In 2009, from January to October, except three months — January, May and
September — he has got reimbursements from the government. The highest was in
February, when he got Rs 5,83,710.
While taking the reimbursements, in some months’ bill, his name figures as
Ashok Mahadevappa Pattan and in others, it is simply P M Ashok. His monthly
reimbursements are: Feb - Rs 5,83,710 ; March - Rs 64,155; April - Rs 2,81,895;
June - Rs 2,74,830; July - Rs 1,46,876; Aug - Rs 1,41410; Oct - Rs 2,75,232.
The government has revealed these details to an RTI application filed by the
TOI. However, Ashok is not alone. There are several instances where the
government has given lakhs as medical reimbursement to sitting and former MLAs.
For instance, in January 2007, Doddanna Gowda Patil got Rs 4.01 lakh, while
Vatal Nagaraj Rs 4.55 lakh. In September, M T Krishnappa
has taken Rs 4.98 lakh. In June 2009, Eeshanna Gulgannavar has received Rs 5.47
lakh.
If a person is elected as MLA once, then the government takes care of the
medical expenditure of the member and his/her family till they die. The
facility applies even after they retire and are never get elected again.
However, strangely, the government has no details about the diseases the
members are suffering from for which reimbursements are claimed. The
reimbursements are done on producing the bills in a prescribed format.
ILL BILL
Total medical reimbursement given to MLAs and former MLAs from Jan 2007 to Oct
2009:
Rs 5,19,45,366
Medical reimbursements received by ex-MLAs:
2007: Rs 1,01,68441
2008: Rs 1,55,13697
2009 (up to October end): Rs 1,50,02,570
Medical reimbursements got by MLAs:
2007: Rs 53,73,780
2008 (June to Dec): Rs 9,52,709
2009 (up to Oct): Rs 49,34,169
Ex-MLAs use more medical relief
Bangalore: MLAs and former MLAs receive life-time free medical aid from the
government for their families and themselves. But it is the former MLAs who
utilize the facility the most. In less than three years, from January 2007 to
October 2009, the government has paid Rs 4.06 crore towards their medical
reimbursements. In just one month, in August 2009, ex-MLAs have been given Rs
50.23 lakh as reimbursements. In 2007 alone, as many as 432 bills for
reimbursements was processed. It does not mean that 432 persons have availed
the facility.
For instance, in 2007, ex-MLA Mohammed Mohinnuddin has applied continuously
from Jan to June, while in December, the bill was in his wife’s name. The
family has drawn a total of Rs 7,44,350 in that year. Some of the ex-MLAs who
have frequently applied and got reimbursements are — former BJP president B B
Shivappa, former Congress president V S Koujalgi, Rajavardhan, N T Bommanna, G
Shivanna, Mallikarjun S Khuba, Suneetha Veerappa Gowdda, S S Koujalgi and M M
Sajjan. In less than three years, Shivappa has got Rs 6.02 lakh, while V S
Koujalgi and N T Bommanna have got Rs 2.51 lakh and Rs 2.80 lakh respectively.
The facilities are governed by the Karnataka Legislature (Members Medical
Attendance) Rules, 1969 and Karnataka Legislature (Pensioners Medical
Attendance) Rules 2007. Besides the government hospitals, the government has
notified private hospitals for the treatment of members and ex-members.
The treatment is free at the government hospitals. The member avails of
reimbursement if he gets treated at private hospitals or spends on medicines
not available at the government hospitals. It is time for the elected
representatives to show as much interest in the health of the people who elect
them and offer public medical cover.
