Port Blair, Aug. 10:  The State President, BJP Shri R. Mohan in a letter to the Lt. Governor, A&N Islands has requested to make arrangements to cut down the airfare being charged to the stretcher patients,  who need to be shifted to the mainland in absence of specialized treatment in the islands.

In his letter Mohan said, “During the regime of NDA, the flight fares for evacuating stretcher patients to mainland was single. Subsequently, the UPA regime has changed the same and reintroduced the erstwhile system of charging 6 tickets. This has come down heavily on the common public who are unable to bear the expenses”.

He further wrote that the LG may be aware of the fact that the medical expenses at mainland is too high, which an ordinary man cannot bear. Above that charging of 6 flight tickets to shift the patient, would be more or less equivalent to the medical expenses one has to incur. In such cases, either the patient is left to his fate or is forced to borrow/ sell his property to save the life of the patient.

The State President therefore requested the Lt. Governor to take up the matter at the appropriate level and see to it that single ticket is charged for stretcher.