On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court refused relief to the widow of a private doctor who died of coronavirus, citing that the ₹50 lakh insurance cover under a Central scheme included only those private medical practitioners who were drafted for COVID-19 duties.
A division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and R I Chagla dismissed a petition filed by Navi Mumbai resident Kiran Surgade seeking ₹50 lakh cover under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) for her husband who died after contracting COVID-19 from a patient at his clinic.
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According to the plea, the petitioner's husband Bhaskar Surgade, an Ayurveda doctor, got a notice from the commissioner of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), asking him to keep his dispensary open and warned action if he fails to comply with the notice.
The petitioner claimed that her husband opened the clinic and started treating patients, including those infected by coronavirus and he too contracted the disease and died of it on June 10, 2020.
The petitioner applied for the ₹50 lakh compensation under the PMGKY insurance package but the request was turned down on the ground that her husband was not serving in any hospital or government healthcare centre and hence was not eligible.
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Appearing for the Maharashtra government, advocate Kavita Solunke argued that the petitioner's services were not requisitioned and hence, he would not be eligible for the insurance cover.
The bench in its order noted that only those private doctors whose services are requisitioned for COVID-19-related duties and responsibilities would be covered under the scheme.
The scheme clearly states that for a private healthcare provider to be covered under the scheme, he or she must be drafted or requisitioned by the state/Centre for COVID-19-related responsibilities, the order stated.
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