In a move that may significantly impact the healthcare system in Tamil Nadu, the cooperative department of the AIDMK govt has started a new insurance scheme that would primarily meet the medical needs of the poor people in the southern state.
Under the scheme, medical facilities of a high standard would be delivered to the needy, said cooperative minister S K Raju in Madurai.
About 100 identity cards have been distributed under the new scheme and 4 persons in each family would be able to avail themselves of 4 lakh rupees’ worth of medical facilities. The scheme is expected to cover nearly 7 hundred thousand people in Madurai district alone.
According to the cooperative minister, his department has already set up 100 medical shops where people are able to buy medicines at a reasonable price. More such medical stores would soon be established in the state.
The cooperative minister said his department is even toying with the idea of establishing a cooperative medical hospital in the state and he would soon be talking it over with the chief minister.
Sources knowledgeable on the cooperative affairs say the work being done by the State govt marks a milestone in the history of the cooperative movement in the country.