Novel Insurance scheme for poor in AP: Governor

Hyderabad, Feb 12 (UNI) The Andhra Pradesh Government will start 'Agrogya Sri' scheme to provide insurance cover to those below the poverty line, Governor Rameshwar Thakur announced today.

On a pilot basis, BPL families with white ration cards would be covered for Rs two lakh for treatment of major diseases relating to kidney and heart; cancers, burns and accidents, he informed in his address to the State Assembly on the opening day of the Budget Session.

Teaching hospitals were being set up in Adilabad, Prakasam and Srikakulam Districts and one more super-speciality hospital at an outlay of Rs 110 crore will come up at Visakhapatanm, he said.

A scheme to provide emergency health transport services to rural populace had been taken up in the state for the first time in the country under public-private partnership model along with the Emergency Management and Research Institute, he said adding the not-for-profit organisation operated 432 ambulances free of cost to transport needy patients, including pregnant women and infants, under the scheme which is a part of the Reproductive and Child Health Project-II.

Under the Health Information Help Line scheme, a person could access the toll free number for information, advice and guidance on any health emergency. When fully functional, it would have more than 250 trained call-receivers, paramedics and specialist doctors in core areas of obstetrics, paediatrics and general medicine round-the- clock.

In its endeavour to turn Andhra Pradesh into hut-free state, the government proposed to construct 21 lakh more houses in 2007-08. The Government would come out shortly with a policy to help middle class families who were finding it difficult to have their own houses in view of rising land and cement prices, he added.

The government proposed to start a new programme from next year to train at least two farmers from each panchayat on farm-related technologies so that they could, in turn, educate fellow farmers and pave way for increased farm productivity.

UNI