Letters: A matter of cost

Apropos the editorial "The IAS flies abroad" (September 18), it is not a shameful but a criminal act by the government to allow members of Parliament, ministers and senior bureaucrats to get treatment abroad at the taxpayer's cost when it has failed to provide even basic health care facilities to the common man. No politician or bureaucrat should be entitled to treatment abroad at public cost of an ailment that can be treated in India. Those who wish to take treatment abroad should pay from their own pocket. Only critical cases that are incurable in India should be allowed to get treatment abroad in super specialty hospitals approved by the government of India. If they take treatment in other hospitals where the cost of treatment is higher than that of approved hospitals, they must be entitled to only partial reimbursement of the amount equivalent to the cost in the approved hospitals.

M C Joshi Lucknow

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