Bear full cost of Bhopal gas survivors’ treatment, SC panel tells govt

Bhopal: 42-year-old Nilofer is a gas survivor who requires funds for a kidney transplant since Feb, 2026 and while gas survivors should get free treatment, this aid has not reached Nilofer yet. After the case was brought to its attention, the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee has asked the gas relief department to sanction the entire amount and not fixed amounts for treatment of all gas survivors.

Currently, the gas relief department under Ayushman scheme is sanctioning an amount of Rs four lakh to gas victims for kidney transplant while private hospitals where the facilities are available charge at least Rs 6.5 lakh for the purpose.

Member of the Monitoring Committee Purnendu Shukla said that the Monitoring Committee in all its quarterly report to MP high court has opposed payment of funds to gas victims for treatment under Ayushman scheme. “Gas victims are a separate category, who have to be provided free treatment and they should be provided the funds required without a ceiling”, he said.

Referring to the case of a gas victim Nilofer, the Monitoring Committee in a letter to additional chief secretary, gas relief, Ashok Varnwal, said that there are clear directives of the Supreme Court and the MP high court as they have said multiple times that the entire cost of treatment of gas victims has to be borne by the state govt. The estimate presented by Nilofer for kidney transplant from a hospital in Bhopal is Rs 6 lakh but only Rs 4 lakh have been sanctioned by the gas relief department for the purpose. The committee asked Varnwakl to sanction the remaining Rs two lakh as early as possible, so that the transplant could take place at the earliest.

Nilofer, 42, failed to get the total funds required for kidney transplant since Feb, 2026, despite her mother offering to give her one of her kidneys. One of the NGOs working among the gas victims- Bhopal Group for Information & Action- raised her issue with the Monitoring Committee and also the top officials of the gas relief department, reminding them that not ensuring free treatment of a gas victim is a contempt of court and the chief secretary of MP Anurag Jain has given an affidavit in SC in connection with a contempt petition over non-compliance of SC orders on medical care of gas victims in April, 2026, stating “The state government has ensured that all victims of the Gas Leak Disaster and their children receive the best possible treatment free of cost.”

Speaking to TOI, Rachna Dhingra said “What is happening to kidney transplant patients is a clear violation of the SC order. The state govt has brought the gas victims under Ayushman scheme since 2023 with a clear objective to save its money, though obligation is on them to ensure free treatment of gas victims anywhere possible if the facility is not available at any gas relief hospital. “

She said that Nilofer is not the only one facing the problem but she has mentioned three more cases in her letter to the Monitoring Committee, where Rs 4 lakh was sanctioned and the remaining amount had to be arranged by the patients themselves. Since Nilofer is not able to arrange the remaining amount, she is running from pillar to post to get her kidney transplant done, she added.

A top official of the gas relief department, however, said “We are working on a policy change, so that the ceiling of Rs four lakh for kidney transplant could be relaxed. Earlier it used to be enough but now when complaints are coming, we are working to change the policy.” Whatever the gas relief department may say in its defence but the fact remains that despite Monitoring Committee’s letter written on May 20, 2026, the remaining amount of Rs 2 lakh has not been sanctioned to Nilofer and her agonising wait for kidney transplant, which would hopefully restore her health, has not come to an end yet.