Ayushman Bharat: PM Narendra Modi launch the flagship healthcare scheme from Ranchi.
Highlights
- Programme aims to provide coverage of Rs. 5 lakh to 10 crore Indians
- Telangana, Odisha, Delhi, Kerala and Punjab haven't signed launch deal
- PM Modi had announced the launch on Independence Day
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched what is billed as the world's largest government-funded healthcare programme - the Ayushman Bharat, which would benefit 50 crore Indians. Launching the scheme, dubbed "Modicare", from Jharkhand capital Ranchi, he called it "a big step towards providing good quality and accessible healthcare to the poor of India. Under the flagship programme, nearly 10 crore economically backward families will be entitles to Rs 5 lakh each. Nearly 31 states and Union Territories will implement the programme after Sunday's launch. PM Modi had announced the launch of the scheme from the ramparts of the Red Fort during his Independence Day speech.
Here is your 10-point cheatsheet to the Ayushman Bharat launch:
"No other country in the world has such a big government-funded scheme," PM Modi said at the launch.
Beneficiaries of the Ayushman Bharat insurance programme in Jharkhand were sent a two-page personalised letter from PM Modi outlining the importance and benefits of the project. The government will send similar letters to 10.74 crore beneficiary families across the country gradually. The letters will have a photograph of PM Modi, a government official said.
"The government is pursuing a holistic approach towards the betterment of the health sector. As it focuses on affordable healthcare on one hand, emphasis is also being laid on preventive healthcare on the other,” PM Modi said. "The number of Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries is almost equal to the population of Canada, Mexico and the US put together," he said.
The Ayushman Bharat scheme will become operational from September 25 on the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, said NITI Aayog member Dr Vinod Paul, who is the chief architect of the scheme.
The Ayushman Bharat programme will be funded with 60 per cent contribution coming from the Centre and the remaining from the states.
The ambitious scheme, renamed the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan, targets economically backward families from both rural and urban India.
Eligible people can avail the benefits in government and listed private hospitals. The beneficiaries are identified based on four "deprivation categories"
One would only need to establish one's identity to avail benefits under the scheme and it could be through Aadhaar card or election ID card or ration card. Having an Aadhaar card is not mandatory. In case of hospitalisation, members of the beneficiary families do not need to pay anything under the scheme, provided one goes to a government or an empanelled private hospital. "
States like Telangana, Odisha, Delhi, Kerala and Punjab have not signed the launch with the Centre.
At a public meeting in Odisha on Saturday, PM Modi criticised the Naveen Patnaik government for saying no to the scheme and alleged that corruption and delaying decisions have become the identity of the Odisha government. Mr Patnaik, however, dismissed the allegation, saying PM Modi must have said it to enthuse BJP workers.
(With inputs from PTI and AFP)
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