3 min readMumbaiJun 26, 2026 09:54 PM IST
Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde on Friday directed the civic administration to increase the monthly financial assistance to leprosy patients in the city to Rs 5,000 from the current Rs 2,500.
The move comes at a time when the civic administration has been providing a slew of financial assistance. Earlier this month, the BMC approved a proposal of providing a financial assistance of Rs 1,000 crore to the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking.
Prior to that, the civic standing administration also sent a proposal to the state government seeking clearance of a Swabhiman Nidhi proposal that aims to provide monthly financial assistance to women workers hailing from the informal sector.
The BMC had been providing financial assistance of Rs 2,500 as a social welfare scheme to the leprosy patients from 2019. The patients infected with leprosy receive this financial assistance throughout their lives even after getting diagnosed.
Meanwhile, on Monday Mayor Tawde met with a delegation of the Leprosy Patients Association along with the leader of the house and senior BJP councillor Ganesh Khankar.
The delegation urged that the current honorarium of Rs 2,500 has become inadequate owing to the increasing cost of living and demanded an increase. The Mayor demanded that the amount of assistance should be doubled to Rs 5,000 going forward.
“These patients don’t have any scope of earning money through revenue. Either they become disabled or people don’t give them work owing to social stigma.
Story continues below this ad
Therefore, there is a need to increase the assistance amount to Rs 5,000 considering the rise in inflation and increase in cost of basic necessities,” Jitendra Chavan, president of the association told the Indian Express.
Chavan said that the Panvel Municipal Corporation provides a monthly grant of Rs 4,000 to low-income leprosy patients, which is more than what BMC provides at present.
According to the civic officials at present 300 patients in Mumbai are beneficiaries of these schemes, which costs the BMC a monthly expenditure of Rs 7.5 lakh, and once the hike is approved the monthly expenditure will increase to Rs 15 lakh.
An official said that once the proposal is approved by the administration, it will be tabled in the civic standing committee for final clearance.
Story continues below this ad
“Earlier, the administration had tried to provide them opportunity to work. Auto rickshaw licenses were issued to the patients so that they can live a self sustaining life. However, it didn’t work out as people would not board their autos due to stigma and many of the patients found it hectic to do the job round the clock. Therefore, the BMC introduced the social welfare scheme for these patients,” Khankar said.
Stay updated with the latest – Click here to follow us on Instagram