Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday lambasted the Congress-led Punjab Government for failing to provide its much-hyped health cover to the people after refusing to implement the Centrally-sponsored health insurance scheme,
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PMJAY), on the pretext of providing an equally beneficial scheme to the state, the so-called Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojna.
Union Food Processing Industries Minister and SAD MP from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that Punjab Health Minister should apologize to Punjabis for deceiving them with fake assurances of implementing the State health insurance scheme from July 1, 2019. “Making fake promises and reneging on them has become a trademark of the Capt Amarinder Singh government. They never walk their talk. Punjabis should not trust Congress ministers anymore,” she said.
She pointed that when the centrally-sponsored health insurance scheme, PMJAY, also known as Ayushman Bharat was implemented across India, the Congress Government had refused to it implement in Punjab contending that it would implement a much wider health insurance scheme of its own as it had promised insurance for all under the universal health scheme in its manifesto.
She said that the Congress Government’s coffers turn dry when it comes to implementing the welfare schemes for underprivileged and poor of the state. “It has stopped all schemes, be it Atta Dal, Shagun or old age pension scheme over the excuse of shortage of funds,” she said adding that the Congress Government had refused to share the burden of the central government sponsored scheme, for which it needed to shell out Rs 65 crore only, and instead, it chose to go with its own insurance scheme costing it around Rs 220 crore.
Meanwhile, BJP’s senior leader and former Minister Manoranjan Kalia lashed out at the Congress Government asking when the State Cabinet, headed by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder, had already decided eight months ago,
that is on October 3, 2018, to adopt and implement Ayushman Bharat Scheme to provide health insurance cover up to five to 42 lakh families in the State, “what authority has the Finance Department to throw spanner in its implementation. Does it mean that Finance Minister is showing his superiority over the Chief Minister?”“If it is a question of paucity of funds, the Finance Department should have made prior arrangement during the period of eight months before the launching date,” he said.
Kalia said that since Ayushman Bharat (Universal Health Insurance Scheme) has been started in 2018 by Narendra Modi Government, it is due to the dilly-dallying attitude of the Capt Amarinder Government that the people of Punjab stood bereft of its benefits.