MoUs were signed between five States and one Union Territory with the National Health Mission, Government of India to implement 'Ayushman Bharat', a mega scheme to provide free health treatment upto Rs. 5 lakh to the people living below poverty line in the presence of Union Health Minister JP Nadda and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur here on Monday.
Five such workshops would be held throughout the country to launch this scheme which would would benefit over 10 crore families of the country and provide free treatment to about 15.31 lakh people living below poverty line in Himachal Pradesh.
Addressing the Ayushman Bharat Northern Region first Workshop on Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Swasthya Suraksha Mission (PMRSSM) on the occasion, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that the it was an innovative scheme launched by the Union Government which has laid special emphasis and stress on health and agriculture sectors in the Union Budget.
Thakur said that today the State has six medical colleges in Government sector and the Government has decided to establish a Medical University for their effective management. He said that the Union Government has sanctioned an AIIMS for the State which would be established in Kothipura in Bilaspur district. He said that the Union Government has sanctioned Rs. 1351 crore for establishing the AIIMS.
He said that Ayushman Bharat was the biggest health insurance scheme of the world and this has potential to bring revolution in the health sector in the country.
Union Health Minister JP Nadda said that the Ayushman Bharat was a brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that with this scheme, the weaker sections of the society would be provided free medical treatment upto Rs. five lakh. He said that 20 AIIMS institutions were being opened in the country for providing best health care facilities to the people of the country nearer to their homes.
Chief Minister of Uttrakhand T.S. Rawat said that Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand share similar topography and geographical conditions and providing health care facilities to the patients in the remote areas was quite challenging. He said that for this all the big hospitals were being developed as e-hospitals.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Punjab, Brahm Mohindra, Health and Family Welfare Minister Jammu and Kashmir Davinder Kumar Maniyal, Health Minister Himachal Pradesh Vipin Singh Parmar, were also present.