Meet Yashoda Wakankar who has lodged a PIL against IRDAI for excluding the neurological disorder
Yashoda Wakankar, Founder of Sanvedana
For Yashoda Wakankar, Founder of Sanvedana, a Pune-based NGO that supports epileptics and has been waging a war against the pain and stigma that those who suffer from it face, it is now a fight to the finish to bring the neurological condition under health insurance.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Wakankar’s Sanvedana Trust was admitted in the Supreme Court early this month and the apex court has now issued notices to the Centre as well as the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), seeking responses from them. Advocates Muhammad Ali Khan and Arjun Sharma, and Gurbani Bhatia, are handling the case.
An epileptic herself, Wakankar who founded Sanvedana in 2004, has made it her mission to dispel myths about the condition, hosting marriage meets for people suffering from it and counseling thousands. In her plea she argues that it is unscientific and unconstitutional to place epilepsy beyond the coverage of insurance, as per norms outlined by the regulator in 2020, given that over 12 million in the country suffer from it.
While the norms of the insurance regulator give no explanation for excluding epilepsy from health cover, the Head – Underwriting of a private general insurer told businessline, “There are diverse ways for deciding on applicability of medical cover, including whether a particular disorder is innate or acquired. There seems to be a difference of opinion among the insurers on the matter.’‘
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Medical experts who support Wakankar’s PIL stress that it is an acquired condition. Sudhir Kumar, Senior Consultant Neurologist, Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, says, “About 50 years ago, epilepsy was seen as an innate or mental disorder. But it is a well-established fact that it is an acquired neurological disorder that needs long-term treatment and also hospitalisation in chronic cases. The cost of treatment could be beyond the reach of at least 30 to 40 per cent of the 12 to 15 million patients who suffer from it now. It certainly needs health cover.’‘
As the matter is sub-judice, it remains to be seen how the insurance regulator responds to the notice of the Supreme Court.
Published on May 29, 2025
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