Former Union Minister and BJP leader, Dilip Ray on Monday demanded to include more hospitals under the Free Treatment for Trauma Fund (FTTF) Scheme in a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The FTTF scheme provides free treatment to road accident victims within 48 hours of the mishap. Out of the 9 Hospitals that have been empaneled under the scheme so far in the State, 7 are in Bhubaneswar, 1 in Cuttack and 1 in Rourkela.
Urging to include more hospitals, Ray wrote, “First 48 hours after an accident is very critical and timely treatment during these golden hours decides the fate of a victim. FTTF in this regard is a very noble scheme and it needs to be expanded to more hospitals. Sundargarh district which has a population of over 23 Lakhs has only one such hospital under the scheme which is quite unfortunate.”
“It may be noted here that the cost incurred in FTTF scheme for Rourkela is borne out of the District Mineral Foundation and what better purpose could DMF serve than to ensure free treatment for accident victims,” he added.
Ray further requested Patnaik to consider empaneling more hospitals under this scheme in Sundargarh district in general and Rourkela in particular and furthermore chalking out an action plan to introduce the scheme to two hospitals in every district of the state.
“Every life matters and introducing the scheme in every district of the state with adequate hospital empanelment's would drastically reduce fatality rate due to road accidents,” he said.