'We Were Born At Home, Not Hospitals': West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee On Birth Dates & Certificates

Kolkata: While inaugurating several new health services in the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday stood firm on her stand against SIR.

In a lighter exchange she mentioned that once she had asked former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee whether he shares his birthday with Jesus Christ which is December 25, which according to her Vajpayee had replied that his official birth date differed from the real one.

“I can relate this thing with my own self. Previously we hardly had any institutional deliveries. We used to get birth at home in our villages and an arbitrary date used to be given by our parents. Like those of us who are born at home, how can we give our parent’s birth certificates? Our education certificates often served as birth certificates.” said Mamata.

Recalling the Left Front tenure, Mamata said that she had seen patients dying outside the hospital due to lack of beds and also that she had resolved the issue that also enabled ‘free treatment for poor’.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had also inaugurated a ‘Mobile Medical Unit’ which will travel to distant places in several districts for medical treatment.

Speaking about the health insurance scheme of the West Bengal government, she said under the Swasthya Sathi scheme, 2.45 crore families, covering 8.72 crore people, receive Rs. 5 lakh healthcare coverage despite money blockage from the central government.