As many as 170 private hospitals in the city have joined hands to provide free treatment to poor patients under a scheme launched by the Madhya Pradesh government on March 6.

The scheme, "Aahvan" (Action to Assist And Volunteer through Aid, Help and Adopt), was launched by Health and Family Welfare Minister Tulsiram Silavat. Under it, 170 private hospitals here have agreed to provide free medical treatment to one poor person per month (that is 170 patients every month).

"We have launched the scheme on an experimental basis from the state's largest city, Indore. If it is successful, it will be implemented in the entire state," Silavat said on the occasion. Indore collector Lokesh Kumar Jatav said a special software has been designed to choose beneficiaries under the scheme and also ensure there is no government interfere in the allotment of hospital to patients. The software on its own will decide which beneficiary patient goes to which hospital for free treatment, he said.