Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada district health officer (DHO) Dr Ramakrishna Rao clarified that the Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka scheme , where treatment up to Rs 5 lakh will be provided for free, has to be availed in government hospitals only.He said government hospitals are well equipped to provide treatment for most health conditions. “Only in cases where a government hospital falls short of providing adequate treatment, the patient would be referred to a private hospital with the same Ayushman Card,” he said, adding patients otherwise cannot avail benefits of the scheme at private hospitals.Giving out numbers of beneficiaries, Dr Rao said a total 1,902 people have availed treatment through the scheme for various health ailments. A total 33,735 individuals have got their health cards from the district Government Wenlock Hospital and 13,584 from Mangalore One centres, he said. Health cards are also issued at Sullia, Puttur, Bantwal and Belthangady taluk hospitals, he said.‘Report sex determination cases’Dr Rao urged people to come forward to register complaints against incidents of sex determination, in case they come across such incidents. Though he clarified that no such incident had been reported in Mangaluru, chances of such cases taking place could not be ruled out completely. He assured stringent action against the medical facility encouraging such tests, and also the individuals involved.

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