Close on the heels of rice provided under the Anna Bhagya scheme being misused by beneficiaries, it is now the turn of the contents of Madilu scheme kits to go on sale.
The kits are provided free of cost post-delivery to nursing mothers. It is alleged that the contents of the kits, provided by the State government, are being sold by the beneficiaries themselves.
The kit has 19 items, including soap for the mother and child, hair oil, socks for the child, cotton diaper, flannel, bedspread, abdominal belt, rubber sheet and sweater. The kits are provided to women below poverty line.
Sources said that while in a few cases, patients sell the contents in far-off places, a few others sell them right outside Vani Vilas Hospital in the City. H C Ramesh, project director, reproductive and child health (RCH), said that each kit costs Rs 1,675.
“A budgetary allocation of Rs 64 crore has been made for the same,” he said. Sources told Deccan Herald that in a few cases, the patients’ relatives who come to collect the kits, sell the contents.
The availability of kits itself remains a challenge for the patients at Vani Vilas Hospital. While a handful are lucky to get the same in a day’s time, it is a wait for weeks for others. Padma, a nursing mother, said that she had to wait for over two weeks for the kit. “It has been 15 days since I gave birth. I am yet to get the kit,” she said.
Beneficiaries are left in the lurch as there is no clarity on when the kits are distributed. This reporter was given three different versions by the authorities when she visited the hospital.
One source said that the kits were handed over to mothers between 11 am and 2 pm. Alisha (name changed), a beneficiary, said, “I have been waiting here since morning. I was asked to get my name entered in the list and come by 3 pm.”
Even as the hospital is short-staffed, two senior staff nurses are expected to dedicate time for the same each day, sources said.
“They already have a lot of responsibilities. Since there is no systematic way of distributing the kits, it becomes a complicated affair.” On any given day, over 50 beneficiaries avail the kits from Vani Vilas Hospital.
