Mumabi: The mayor of the municipal administration, which has been expeditiously approving development projects worth crores of rupees, has yet to allocate funds for the city’s medical needs. Despite more than two and a half years having passed since the dissolution of the municipal body, the Mayor’s Medical Fund remains inaccessible to the city’s most vulnerable. As a result, over 600 applications have been languishing in the secretary department.
In Mumbai, financial assistance ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 is available from the Mayor’s Medical Fund to support the medical treatment of indigent patients. However, since the dissolution of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on March 8, 2022, the fund has been suspended. Despite growing public demand to reinstate this essential financial lifeline, the mayor’s office has continued to ignore these pleas.
While the Commissioner, Additional Commissioner, and senior officials within the BMC sign off on development projects worth crores every week, they appear to have neglected the urgent need to revive the medical fund. The public initially hoped that Bhushan Gagrani would reestablish the fund upon assuming his role as Commissioner, yet this has not materialized.
The Mayor’s Medical Fund, which offers financial aid for chronic and life-threatening conditions such as cancer, kidney and heart disease, and dialysis, has been particularly crucial for patients in need of heart surgeries and kidney transplants, providing up to Rs 25,000 in assistance per patient. Dialysis patients are eligible for Rs 15,000.
Despite the critical nature of this issue, the administration has deflected responsibility, claiming that the right to allocate funds does not lie within their purview. However, when Mumbai City Guardian Minister Deepak Kesarkar raised the issue, he underscored the severity of the situation, pointing out that the Mayor’s failure to disburse medical funds to the needy is a matter of serious concern.
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The continued inaction from the mayor’s office leaves the city’s most vulnerable without the support they desperately need, while resources are rapidly channeled into infrastructure projects.
