Treatment at private hospitals a bitter pill without cash

LUCKNOW: It's been 50 days to demonetisation and there is no relief for patients and their attendants at most private clinics and nursing homes in the city as they are not accepting online payments. Since many people are still not well-versed with ebanking and mobile wallets, medical treatment is hard to get for want of cash.
The worst hit are those admitted in emergency or set for a surgery without cash to meet such expenses.Lacking knowledge about e-banking, they are left with no option but to bor row from friends. Abhishek Kumar, a Bahraich farmer, said, “I have been coughing for the past two weeks but have no cash for treatment. The ATM queues in hospital are so long that I had to borrow from a friend.“ Lucknow has many government hospitals but most of them have a centralised payment system which does not allow e-wallet payments. The only way to get diagnosed and treated here is to either pay in new currency or make online payments.
It gets worse for people from the neighbouring towns who find it hard to arrange cash in an unfamiliar city. “I have to get my mother operated upon soon but the cash I brought with me isn't enough. I can't leave her alone to stand in an ATM queue for hours,“ said Vikas Srivastav, a government employee from Faizabad.