Trinamool Congress MLA and actor Kanchan Mallick on Tuesday gave birth to his baby at a private hospital in Kolkata, sparking controversy after he ‘presented’ a hospital bill of Rs 6 lakh in the West Bengal Assembly for compensation. TMC MLA from Uttarpara, Malik married Srimayi Chatterjee in February this year and the couple welcomed the child on November 3 at a hospital in south Kolkata that charged them Rs 6 lakh.
According to assembly sources, the legislator submitted the bill to the House’s health affairs department on Tuesday with “all relevant information and documents”.
Stating that all documents related to health bills will be checked, Speaker Biman Banerjee said, “I personally check all health bills before giving clearance. In this case, I go through all the documents myself. If any query arises, I will call the concerned hospital and talk to the authorities. There is no upper limit to the amount that MLAs can submit hospital bills and claim reimbursement, Assembly sources said.
When asked about his bill, Malik said on Tuesday, ‘From where you came to know about the bill, know the rest from there. However, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said that Malik is yet to submit the medical bills.
He said, ‘He went to Parliament to ask about the bill where the hospital charged Rs 2 lakh for the procedure and Rs 4 lakh for the doctor. It is very unfortunate that all he has to do is pay a medical bill of Rs 6 lakh,” he said.
In the past, ministers have faced scrutiny over their health bills. When Buddhadev Bhattacharya was the Chief Minister during the Left Front, the then Minister Manav Mukhopadhyay was criticized for demanding Rs 30,000 for glasses. After the Trinamool government came to power in 2011, the then Women, Child and Social Welfare Development Minister Savitri Mitra submitted a bill of Rs 1 lakh for glasses. After the controversy over the bill, she returned the money.
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