The Central Government led by PM
Narendra Modi reportedly is gearing up to cover all the targeted beneficiaries
of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana or AB PM-JAY by January
26.
It is a colossal job given that it
entails bringing 270 million more people into the fold of its flagship health
scheme, reported LiveMint.
The plan will be initiated under the new
guidelines given to all central ministries and agencies in charge of various
welfare schemes to speed up the “saturation” of beneficiaries, which
means covering all intended individuals.
More than 280 million people have an
Ayushman card, which entitles the holder – someone living below the poverty
line – to access quality healthcare. The government’s aim is to cover at least
550 million people, leaving a large gap of at least 270 million people to close
in just over a month.
“It is an opportunity for us to achieve
saturation within the set deadline rather than a pre-election agenda. Several
communications are sent to States and Union Territories every day. They have
been asked to devise daily targets for Ayushman card creation and strive to
achieve the same by deploying all resources,” said an official.
As per official, 100 million plus families
have at least one Ayushman card, with each individual in a beneficiary family
entitled to one.
The State with the most Ayushman cards
(46 million) is Uttar Pradesh, followed by Madhya Pradesh (37 million), Gujarat
(20 million), Chhattisgarh (20 million), and Maharashtra (19 million).
“The growing use of Ayushman cards has
led to a significant increase in hospitalisation. According to the National
Statistical Office, it is now approaching 3.16 percent hospitalisation per
100,000 beneficiaries this fiscal year, which is higher than the national
average of 2.9 percent,” said the official.
In October this year, the Union Ministry
of Health and Family Welfare informed that the Ayushman Bharat initiative has
helped save at least Rs 1 trillion in treatment costs in the five years since
its inception in 2018.
“More than Rs 5.7 crore worth cashless
treatments have been provided and 254 million beneficiary cards have been
generated under the AB-PMJAY,” read a document from the Health Ministry.
NE Watch Desk
