Shillong, October 10 (PTI): A Meghalaya Assembly committee has asked the state government to review the rates for COVID- 19 tests.
Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Wednesday said that the Meghalaya government has decided that COVID-19 tests will be charged from October 16 as the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has withdrawn subsidy on testing kits.
The state government has set Rs 3,200 as the capping charge for Truenat, CBNAAT and RT-PCR testing and Rs 500 for Rapid Antigen test, but people belonging to the BPL category are exempted from paying for tests.
The Meghalaya Assembly Committee on Women Empowerment chairperson Amparen Lyngdoh on Friday asked the Health department officials to review the rates for COVID-19 test as the rates are on the higher side.
The committee also discussed issues related to the implementation of the Meghalaya Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS) in the meeting. Lyngdoh said the committee also told the officials of the food civil supplies and consumer affairs department to fast track the 57,000 application for ration cards pending.
"We have requested both departments to immediately look into the urgency to ensure that people of the state do not face hardships... Thousands of people have come back to the state after leaving their jobs in other states... Lyngdoh told reporters on Friday.
Lyngdoh said the rate fixed for the COVID-19 test is on the higher side.
Assembly committee member and Mawsynram MLA, Himalaya Shangpliang said the committee has asked the Health department and the government not to look at this issue on a commercial basis but to reconsider these rates.
"The committee has asked the health department to review the cost of the COVID test and to reconsider the rates or if the government can chip in by way of providing subsidy," he said.
Meghalaya till Friday had reported about 7,388 COVID- 19 cases of which 2,424 are active cases.
