After signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on April 5 to implement the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), the Delhi government on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to implement it in the national capital. In Delhi, 46 private hospitals, 38 state government hospitals and 11 hospitals run by the Union government have been empanelled under PMJAY till now.
Addressing a gathering after the signing of the MoU, Union Health Minister and BJP Chief JP Nadda took a dig at political opponents saying the ruling parties that did not implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme in their states were voted out of power and asserting that it is West Bengal’s turn next. Nadda said the AB-PMJAY is the world’s largest health-coverage programme under which 62 crore people are currently being benefitted. “It is a moment of pride that 36 lakh people in Delhi will be benefitted by the AB-PMJAY now,” he added. Nadda also informed that with the implementation of the AB-PMJAY in Delhi, all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their socio-economic status, will be covered under the Ayushman Vay Vandana Yojana.
He highlighted that 8.19 crore people have already availed treatment under the scheme and the government has spent a total amount of `1.26 lakh crore for the same. Of the beneficiaries, 19 lakh were downtrodden people who could not have afforded these treatment without the Ayushman Bharat health coverage, he said.
He reiterated that the AB-PMJAY is an “assurance” and not an “insurance” scheme, whereby the government assures the beneficiaries of a `5 lakh health coverage and on top of that, the Delhi government has added another `5 lakh, amounting to a total coverage of `10 lakh. Nadda said Delhi faced a black chapter for seven years as even though the scheme was launched in 2018, 36 lakh people, including six lakh elderly people, remained deprived of its benefits.
Speaking on the occasion, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said health has always been a priority for the BJP-led Centre. “Besides improving health infrastructure and making quality and affordable medicines accessible to the masses, Prime Minister Modi has always laid stress on nutrition, yoga, meditation etc., which shows the emphasis being given to the health sector,” she said. CM Gupta informed that “for the NCT (National Capital Territory) of Delhi, an amount of `1,749 crore has been approved for the establishment of 1,139 urban ayushman arogya mandirs (AAMs), strengthening of 11 integrated public health laboratories (IPHLs) and nine critical care blocks (CCBs) under the PM-ABHIM during the scheme period”. She said the AAMs would provide better health services than the mohalla clinics set up by the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
CM Gupta said when Ayushman Bharat was launched, the Delhi chief minister was asked to implement it, but the national capital remained bereft of these healthcare services for the last several years.
Nadda and other dignitaries distributed Ayushman cards to 30 AB-PMJAY beneficiaries in Delhi. The beneficiaries represented different socio-economic profiles of the population of Delhi.
