Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Sep 8: A 34-year-old Malekudiya tribesman from Chikkamagaluru district will get medical care thanks to the intervention of social organisations and the media.
Tribesman Srinivas Gowdlu from Horanadu in Mudigere taluk remained immobile for nearly a month in bed in the District Government Wenlock Hospital simply because his name was not there in the BPL card of his parents.
However, Gowdlu will now undergo free surgery for his spinal cord injury under the Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka beneficiary as a BPL patient. The hospital authorities are expected to perform the surgery on Saturday.
Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) brought Gowdlu's plight to public domain after his friends approached the organisation as their repeated efforts to get free treatment at the government hospital for the tribesman failed.
DYFI leaders and friends intervened and got Gowdlu's name included in the BPL card and then the hospital authorities moved his file for free treatment.
Gowdlu sustained multiple spinal injuries after he had a fall from a tree that he was pruning in his land on August 11. He was brought to the hospital by his friends on August 12 with the hope of getting advanced treatment free since he belonged to the BPL category.
Gowdlu was the sole breadwinner of the family with his father being Manjappa Gowda and mother Yashoda with a physically challenged elder brother Ananth.
When Gowdlu's name was missing in the BPL card that was issued in his mother's name, the hospital considered him to be belonging to the Above Poverty Line and was eligible only for 30% of the package that came to Rs 60,000.
Hospital authorities asked Gowdlu's family to bear the remaining 70% of the treatment cost and also bring an implant worth Rs 25,000 needed for surgery. Friends and family could raise about Rs 1 lac donation that was spent on medicine and care.
The hospital has agreed to treat him as a BPL patient and Deputy Commissioner K V Rajendra has said that the surgery was scheduled for Saturday.