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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Despite digital push, government hospitals still in cash mode

Despite digital push, government hospitals still in cash mode

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published Published on Dec 14, 2016   modified Modified on Dec 14, 2016
-The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's big push for digital payments and cashless transactions post-demonetisation, government hospitals across the country remain woefully unequipped to translate his lofty visions into reality.

Despite various state governments issuing directives to state and municipality-run hospitals to promote digital payments, an overwhelming majority of these are yet to install card swipe machines.

Last week, the Union health secretary held a meeting on the issue, following which a communication was sent on Friday to all states, asking them to operationalise digital payments at government hospitals.

However, TOI visited five hospitals in the capital and found long queues at cash counters, where cards were not being accepted, except at AIIMS. Doctors at the other hospitals, Ram Manohar Lohia, Safdarjung, Lok Nayak and G B Pant, said swipe machines were in the process of being installed. Currently, only big payments were being accepted through cards.

Government hospitals in other parts of the country were far from cashless. A reality check by TOI revealed cash payments for medicines etc was the norm, leaving cash-strapped patients desperate. While doctors and health department officials insist that treatment of the poor is largely free of cost, and the absence of swipe machines and digital payment facilities are conspicuous by their absence.

While Modi recently said he wanted Gujarat to become a model state in adopting digital financial transactions, the situation in his home state is far from encouraging. Bhavik Soni, in the queue of Punjab National Bank in Ahmedabad, told TOI, "My sister-in-law is undergoing a heart surgery but the hospital (Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation-run LG Hospital) does not accept payment through debit card. I am standing in queue since early morning to withdraw Rs 20,000 cash."

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The Times of India, 14 December, 2016, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Despite-digital-push-government-hospitals-still-in-cash-mode/articleshow/55969026.cms


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