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In a matter regarding the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna insurance package that was brought to the division bench of Justices SJ Kathawalla and RI Chagla of the Bombay High Court, the High Court discussed the type of doctors that are included in the scheme and noted the scope of interpretation of the same.
The matter was brought to court by a petition filed by Kiran Surgade who lost her husband due to Covid. The husband, according to the plea, was an Ayurvedic doctor who received a notice from the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation commissioner to continue to keep his dispensary open. The notice further stated that the failure to comply with the order would result in action against him. Therefore, the case of the petitioner is that her husband, to comply with the order, kept his clinic open and treated his patients. In the process, he contracted the infection and died on 10th June 2020. This led to the petitioner applying for the New India Assurance, which provides a Rs. 50 Lakh compensation for doctors who got infected by Covid-19 on duty. Her application, however, was rejected on the grounds that the husband had a private, individual practice and was not serving in any hospital or government healthcare centre. When the court posed the question of the extent of the application of the scheme, the advocate representing the Union of India, clarified that the scheme extends only to those private doctors who were requisitioned by the government authorities for Covid-19 duty. The Municipal Authorities letter, hence, becomes important to probe for the merits of this matter, and hence, the court noted that the benefit from the scheme has a scope of interpretation.
The Court extending its sympathies to the private doctors and directed the Government to obtain data regarding the number of insurance claims made by the relatives of doctors who worked in private clinics who treated patients and succumbed to Covid-19 and asked them how the Government and Court can aid them.
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