The group leaders of parties in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation today approved a proposal to increase rates of health services by 20 per cent for residents of Mumbai and 30 per cent for patients coming from outside the city.
 

Explaining the procedure, a senior civic official said the proposal, which was passed yesterday by group leaders of the parties in the BMC, will now be brought before the civic body's Standing Committee. Once it is passed by Standing Committee, it will be brought before the general assembly of the BMC for final approval, the official said. The last revision in the fees levied by the Municipal hospitals was in 2000.

In the 2016-17 budget, the BMC administration had proposed an increase in medical service rates by 50 per cent. Shiv Sena leader in the BMC, Yashwant Jadhav, said, "The civic administration wanted an increase of 50 per cent but we opposed that and supported a hike of 20 per cent. However, for senior citizens, we are pitching for free treatment."

A group party leader opposed the move stating that providing health services at an affordable cost was mandatory for the civic body. Opposing the hike, he said civic-run hospitals lacked basic facilities and patients were unsatisafied with the treatment they receive there. BMC has five medical colleges- KEM, Sion, Nair, Nair Dental, and R N Cooper, and 16 peripheral hospitals apart from five specialised hospitals for TB, Leprosy, ENT, and more.