Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version | Audio
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version | Audio |
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Money & Banking
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Credit Market Industry & Economy - Health States - Karnataka
The bank will charge an interest of 8.5 per cent on the loan to those earning less than $2 a day. Our Bureau Bangalore, Aug. 19 There is now a bank loan for poor heart patients. The State Bank of India launched its new loan product, said to be the first of its kind, on a pilot scale on Tuesday. SBI Hrudaya Suraksha is currently available to those being treated at Narayana Hrudayalaya Health City in Bangalore. The loan amount will cover 80 per cent of the total medical expenditure or Rs 50,000, whichever is lower. There is no collateral on the loan sanctioned jointly in the names of the patient and spouse or kin. The amount is to be repaid within six months. Dr Muhammad Yunus, Nobel laureate and founder of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, launched the product in the presence of RBI Deputy Governor, Mr V. Leeladhar. “This is a pilot study to evaluate the concept of offering a loan on easy interest terms for poor patients – those earning less than $2 (around Rs 80) a day – and who need urgent cardiac intervention,” said SBI’s CMD, Mr O.P.Bhat. “Once the proof of concept is available, the same plan could be rolled out in other health cities of Narayana Hrudayalaya in Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Jamshedpur,” he said. The bank will charge an interest of 8.5 per cent on the loan and aims to disburse the loans the same day through its new branch at the hospital, said Ms Mahpara Ali, Chief General Manager, SBI’s Bangalore head office. It disburses Rs 200 crore to self-help groups in Karnataka through NGOs. “We plan to work with Dr Shetty in that area also and are looking at a whole lot of other things with (his hospital)” to integrate healthcare into banking, she said without elaborating. The hospital will pay the interest for the first three months, said Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, renowned heart surgeon and CMD of the 18-year-old Narayana Hrudayalaya. According to Dr Shetty, 80,000 cardiac operations performed each year in the country are only a third of the need. At the average heart surgery cost of Rs 1 lakh, barely eight per cent of patients can afford a surgery and the rest have to borrow, claim from insurance or sell their assets. Narayana, which performs 1-2 surgeries a day and offers ten tariff variants, will vet loan-seeking patients. “Our people have developed a knack of identifying genuine ones,” he said. Dr Yunus and Dr Shetty said they were exploring a ‘health city’ of 3,000-5,000 beds and multiple specialities for the needy in Bangladesh. Narayana Hrudayalaya treats many Bangla patients via telemedicine. “We are looking for large partners. We would consider a 5,000-bed health city in Dhaka with Grameen Bank’s help, combining microcredit and a network of primary health centres,” Dr Shetty said. More Stories on : Credit Market | Health | State Bank of India | Karnataka
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