*Continues distribution of essential items among needy
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 19: Former Minister and senior Congress leader Raman Bhalla today demanded online platform to provide free medical consultancy to ailing people who are unable to visit doctors due to the lockdown.
“Due to the restrictions imposed to contain the spread of Coronavirus, several people are facing problems in having access to general health services. Also, there are less chances of normalization of the situation in the near future. In this case, the online system will prove to be very effective for patients,” Bhalla said, adding J&K Government should launch a website to facilitate free medical consultation for patients.
He said, in this regard there is need to prepare an action plan within a week for online medical counselling of the ailing persons, so that the facility can be started soon.
“The proposed website should work like a virtual hospital, through which ambulance facilities can also be made available to patients in case of need,” he said adding doctors from Government hospitals should be available for consultation for a fixed period of time on the website and private doctors can also be part of the service if they agree to provide free consultation.
“The prescribed medicines should be delivered at the patients’ homes.
The patients can upload their medical history, like reports of CT scan, X-ray and others along with prescriptions related to the previous treatment, before interacting with doctors online. In urgent cases, patients could also be called to hospitals and ambulances should be arranged for them,” Bhalla maintained.
Her further said the economy cannot be kept in lockdown for that long, so until a vaccine is available, corona curve must be kept sufficiently flat that the health system can handle the additional emergencies without being crippled, adding that requires restricting economic activity.
Bhalla said more and more people have run out of cash and are standing in queues for free cooked food, adding Government should save them from hunger and protect their dignity by transferring cash to every poor family.
“Government should distribute, free of cost, a small part of the 77 million tons of grain with FCI to families who need the grain to feed themselves,” he said and sought transfer of cash to the poor who are finding it difficult to survive without employment amid the countrywide lockdown.
Meanwhile, Bhalla today distributed food items along with fodder for animals at Sainik Colony, Uttam Nagar and Kunjwani.
Prominent among those who accompanied Bhalla included Vinay Sharma, Corporator Pritam Singh, Girish Raizada, Harkarit Singh Sasan, Aman Bawa, Neeraj Kumar, Devraj, Iqbal Singh and Rocky.
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