New Delhi: In what it called a “symbolic protest”, private hospitals of Gujarat have decided to not accept patients under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), the Union government’s subsidised health insurance scheme for the poor, from February 26 to 29.

The PMJAY Private Empanelled Private Hospital Association Gujarat – the umbrella body comprising 789 private and charitable hospitals – had been demanding that the pending amount of Rs 300 crore due to the hospitals be cleared first to sustain the government’s health insurance scheme. However, it gave a call for the “symbolic protest” after failing to receive no written assurance from the Union government.

On February 13, the association briefed the press in Ahmedabad, where it said that the Union government has not paid dues for the last two years and a number of private and trust-run hospitals are “on the verge of bankruptcy”. The Indian Express reported that that Association also claimed that multiple representations to the government officials, including the Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya, went unheard.

“Following the press conference, we received a call from the office of Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel for a meeting on February 21. We met Principal Secretary (Health) Dhananjay Dwivedi and other officials but they only orally assured us that our issues will be resolved and refused to give us anything in writing,” the association’s media spokesperson Dr Ramesh Chaudhary told the daily.

“We will proceed with our symbolic protest. The hospitals have decided not to accept any patient under PMJAY from February 26 to 29. If our issues remain unresolved even after that, we may proceed to not accept patients under PMJAY indefinitely and intensify our movement,” he said. The Association also complained about “unexplained deductions and rejection of claims by the insurance company Bajaj Allianz”.

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