NEW DELHI: PM Modi on Tuesday slammed AAP and TMC for not implementing the Ayushman Bharat – PM Jan Arogya Yojana in Delhi and Bengal due to their “political interests” and said he was pained that the elderly in these states cannot avail free treatment under the programme, which on Tuesday was expanded to cover citizens aged 70 years and above, regardless of income.
AB-PMJAY, the Centre’s flagship health assurance scheme, was launched in 2018 to provide an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to the poor and vulnerable.
“I apologise to the elders above 70 years in Delhi and West Bengal. I am unable to serve you. I can feel your pain but am not able to help because the govts in these two states aren’t joining the scheme. Due to their political interests, they are acting against the interests of citizens of their own states requiring treatment,” Modi said while addressing an event in Delhi on the ninth Ayurveda Day and the birth anniversary of Dhanvantari, the Hindu god of medicine.
An overwhelming majority of states have come on board since the launch of the popular scheme, with Delhi and West Bengal being the only holdouts.
Odisha, which had also not joined the scheme until recently, changed its mind after the formation of BJP govt and has conveyed this to the Centre, according to sources in health ministry.
Modi said nearly four crore poor people have availed benefits under AB-PMJAY. “Had the scheme not been there, they would have had to shell out around Rs 1.25 lakh crore from their own pockets,” he said.
In a major boost to healthcare infrastructure, the PM also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of several health projects worth more than Rs 12,855 crore. These include projects worth more than Rs 5,502 crore under the health and family welfare ministry; Rs 5,187 crore under the department of pharmaceuticals and chemicals and fertilisers ministry; Rs 1,641 crore under the ESIC, labour and employment ministry, and Rs 525 crore under the Ayush ministry.
The PM inaugurated the second phase of the All India Institute of Ayurveda, three medical colleges at Mandsaur, Neemuch, and Seoni in Madhya Pradesh, and extensions at various AIIMS hospitals. He also laid the foundation stone of five nursing colleges.
The PM also launched the U-WIN portal for digitisation of immunisation services for pregnant women and children, enhancing access to health services and providing citizens with secure digital identities.
“The world witnessed the success of our Co-WIN platform during the (Covid) pandemic, and the success of the UPI payment system has become a global story,” he said, adding that India aims to replicate this success in the healthcare sector through digital public infrastructure.
