Drafts new policy after Prince Rajbhar's death at KEM Hospital stoked controversy overcompensation, which was earlier limited to only sewer deaths
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Two months after Prince Rajbhar's death at KEM Hospital stoked a controversy over the BMC's compensation policy, the civic administration has finally drafted a new, all-inclusive guideline. A policy that was earlier limited to only Sewerage Operations Department has been changed to include all other departments in case of negligence, and is expected to be implemented later this year.
There was a demand for a new policy after the two-and-a-half-year-old boy, who sustained severe injuries when a fire broke out in the ICU, died on November 22 and his parents accused the KEM Hospital administration of negligence. When corporators demanded a compensation for the parents, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had said they were unable to do so since the existing policy had no provision for medical cases in civic hospitals. The task of drafting a new policy was assigned to former additional municipal commissioner Praveen Darade, who has now been replaced by P Velrasu. Civic officials said they only have to fix the amount of the compensation now.
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"Earlier, only workers and staff members of Sewerage Operations Department were entitled to compensation. There was no provision for cases of medical negligence. But now the new policy will apply to all other departments," said a senior civic official.
The official added that the new policy is similar to the one followed by the state government, which recognises three kinds of cases — death, partial disability or permanent disability caused by negligence.
"A committee will be set up to vet the cases and determine which ones will be awarded compensation," said the official. Once the policy is finalised, it will be placed before the standing committee for final approval.
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