Background
Karuna Trust is a local NGO based in T. Narsipur, located in Mysore District. It is led by a well-known social activist, Dr. Sudarshan. He has been working for the improvement of the health conditions of the tribals living in the area. .
According to Dr. Sudarshan, tribals prefer to receive treatment at home, rather than at hospital because it involves lot of hidden costs such as transportation, food for patients, loss of wages etc
Origin of the Scheme
In one of the government meetings, the issue of community insurance was discussed and Dr. Sudarshan offered to experiment it. Finally, a proposal was developed by Karuna Trust and sent it to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare through the Government of Karnataka. UNDP also showed interest to fund the programme. However, an insurance company was required for providing insurance companies. The National Insurance Company (NIC) showed interest and became part of it. In addition to this, Centre for Population Dynamics (CPD) was brought in to provide research support. Thus, began a partnership process between Karuna Trust, NIC, CPD, UNDP, the state government and the health ministry.
