Calcutta, Oct. 30 :    Calcutta, Oct. 30:  Pay more for better services. That is the line the government has adopted to improve public medical facilities. Three years after the last upward revision in rates, charges for certain facilities in all state run-hospitals in Calcutta and elsewhere in Bengal are set to increase from mid-November, the government announced on Tuesday. 'We will make a final announcement as soon as we have drawn up the new rates,' health minister Surya Kanta Mishra said at the inauguration of a rehabilitation centre for the treatment of paralytic and disabled patients (Picture on Page 19). Confirming the hike, health secretary Asim Barman said the final rate card could be expected next week. 'Fees at government hospitals will increase from the second week of November. However, only the charges of paying beds, cabins and other facilities, like X-ray and ECG, scans and pathological tests, will go up,' said Barman. Recipients of free and subsidised healthcare will, thus, remain unaffected. Sources in the health department said the new rates would not be more than one-third the charges of private hospitals, nursing homes and pathological centres. The present Re-1 rate for outdoor tickets will probably rise to Rs 2. At present, an X-ray costs Rs 30, an ECG Rs 30 and a bed Rs 15. Scans are charged around Rs 800. On the banning of special duty attendants (SDAs) from government hospitals from November 1, Mishra said that from Thursday, patients will be given a card in state hospitals, authorising one member of the family to stay with the sick person for 24 hours. The patients' families can still engage a private nurse or SDA to stand in for them if they wish to. The government took this decision on complaints of thriving rackets involving special duty attendants, or ayahs, in state hospitals. 'Unions force patients to engage SDAs, whether they are required or not,' sources said. The SDAs also allegedly sell expensive drugs to medicine shops, instead of giving them to the patients. There are over 10,000 SDAs in government hospitals all over the state. They are not official staff but have been available at wards for hire by patients' relatives since the late 60s. A number of surgeons in government hospitals welcomed the decision on banning SDAs, saying they would 'extend full cooperation to hospitals to improve service and rid the system of inefficiencies'. Mishra also said that there is no need to panic about the spread of anthrax in Bengal. 'Last year and the year before, more cattle died of anthrax than this year. People from the animal resources department are touring the rural areas to vaccinate cattle as a precautionary measure,' he added. According to Mishra, the Bengal government has received a circular from the Centre warning against a list of over 40 possible bacterial, fungal and chemical infections and contamination. The health minister, however stated that excessive concern is unnecessary, and that it was 'impossible' to guard against such an extensive list of possible diseases.