House panel to probe ex-Odisha MLA’s detention by hosp

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Mar 15:

Odisha Assembly Speaker Niranjan Pujari today ordered the House Committee on Health to probe the matter pertaining to detention of former Telkoi MLA Chandrasen Naik by a private hospital here for being unable to pay its bills.

The Speaker issued a ruling ordering the House Committee on Health to probe the matter after it was raised in the House by Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra today.

Notably, former Congress MLA Chandrasen Naik who had represented Telkoi constituency from 1980-85 and 1995-2000 was admitted to the Apollo Hospital here on March 2 with severe chest pain.

Doctors at the hospital had said that Naik’s condition was critical and angioplasty was needed to be done on him.

The next day angioplasty was conducted on Naik and he gradually recovered.  He was to be discharged on March 11 but was held hostage by the hospital as he was unable to pay the pending bills of Rs 1.94 lakh.

Former MLA’s son Chitrasen had claimed that out of the total bill of about Rs 4 lakh, insurance had taken care of Rs 1 lakh, another Rs 1 lakh was arranged by the family and paid to the hospital but could not arrange the remaining amount despite trying to sell their land to get the money.

The matter was reported in the media.

Chitrasen said left with little option his family approached Rural Development Minister Badri Narayan Patra who hailed from the same district.

It was after the Minister’s intervention that Naik was released from the hospital after Chitrasen gave an undertaking to the hospital to pay its pending bills within a month.