Mamata pitches for mediclaim for sex workers
By IANSWednesday, January 12, 2011
KOLKATA - Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee Wednesday asked her party-run Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) board to bring sex workers and their children under a mediclaim policy.
“Sex workers have taken up their profession out of necessity to make a living. There are many who hate them. But this is not fair. Often these women do not get access to medical treatment. So they need medical insurance,” Banerjee said at a KMC programme in the city’s southern outskirts.
“I request city Mayor Sovan Chatterjee to try to bring them under a mediclaim policy. It could be of Rs.25,000-30,00O so that they get the basic medical treatment,” she added.
Banerjee, who is also the railway minister, appealed to the civic body to also bring the children of sex workers under the ambit of the mediclaim. “I would also request the mayor to see if a home can be run for the benefit of these children”.
