Sena MP Naresh Mhaske flags welfare fund imbalance, seeks higher cashless cover for accident

Thane: Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske has flagged gaps in both welfare delivery and healthcare support, urging authorities to ensure equitable access to benefits and stronger financial protection for citizens.In a letter dated February 2, Mhaske directed Thane Municipal Commissioner Saurabh Rao to ensure that all eligible beneficiaries of welfare schemes implemented by the Thane Municipal Corporation receive benefits after proper scrutiny. For 2025–26, applications for several schemes under the Social Development Department exceeded prescribed targets, while others saw fewer applicants than budgeted.
The Women and Child Welfare Department runs 12 schemes, including marriage assistance for daughters of widowed or divorced women, rehabilitation support for single women, and welfare measures for the transgender community. Schemes for persons with disabilities include education and sports scholarships, livelihood aid, medical assistance, unemployment allowance, and old-age financial support. According to officials, some schemes received fewer applications than the available budgetary provisions, while others received applications beyond the allocated limits. This imbalance may result in unused funds for certain schemes and denial of benefits to eligible applicants under others. To prevent this, MP Mhaske instructed the civic administration to plan and allocate the available funds judiciously so that all eligible applicants could benefit from the schemes.Separately, speaking in the Lok Sabha, Mhaske called for increasing cashless treatment coverage for road accident victims to Rs 5 lakh and extending ICU limits to at least 25 days. "Extending ICU limits and increasing coverage will ensure critical patients get full treatment and prevent families from going into debt," MP Mhaske said. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways scheme currently offers Rs 1.5 lakh coverage with a seven-day ICU cap. Citing hospital data showing severe trauma cases often need up to 25 days of intensive care, he said the revision was a humanitarian necessity to prevent families from slipping into debt.