According to a parliamentary response by the Union health ministry in 2023, around 654,000 families in Delhi are eligible to enrol under the scheme.
In a bid to accelerate the implementation of Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) in Delhi, the state government, along with National Health Authority (NHA), has started the process of training staff who will generate PMJAY cards and pre-authorise medical procedures.
This comes a day after the Delhi government had cleared the decks for introducing the Centre's health insurance scheme in the national capital.
“We are currently working on training master trainers, who, in turn, will train around 5,000-6,000 field workers to handle card creation and backend processes such as claim processing and grievance redressal management,” said an official in the know.
Kiran Gopal Vaska, joint secretary and mission director (Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission), NHA, said the central agency is working with the state health department to work out modalities for onboarding Delhi on the PMJAY scheme.
“Work has already started on preparing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to be signed by Delhi and creating a list of beneficiaries who will benefit under the scheme,” he said.
According to a parliamentary response by the Union health ministry in 2023, around 654,000 families in Delhi are eligible to enrol under the scheme.
Similarly, a recent Ageing in India report puts the projected senior citizens’ population in the capital at 1.9 million.
In a recent meeting to discuss implementation of the Ayushman Bharat programme, state officials had stated that a minimum of 100,000 beneficiaries would need to be enrolled for the PMJAY card and the Vaya Vandana card within 30 days of approving the scheme by the cabinet.
“The beneficiaries will be families, according to National Food Security Act (NFSA) data, Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011 data, or as decided by the Cabinet and senior citizens above 70 years,” said the minutes of the meeting, accessed by Business Standard.
Similarly, the state government is also targeting to upgrade dispensaries run by the Delhi government as well as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) into Ayushman Arogya Mandir-Primary Health Centres (AAM-PHCs). “A target for upgrading 11 PHCs has to be achieved within 30 days,” the minutes stated.
The document added that the district magistrates (DMs) will need to ensure and oversee that the target is achieved in the 30-day timelines.
The AB-PMJAY scheme, which provides a health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per family, currently empanels 93 hospitals and nursing homes in Delhi, even though the capital had not implemented it yet.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had announced that the state government will also provide an additional top up of Rs 5 lakh per family.
Vaska added that once formed, the state health agency (SHA) will empanel more hospitals according to Delhi’s requirement.
The non-implementation of PMJAY was a major issue in the recently-concluded Delhi assembly elections.
Several central ministers alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had deprived Delhiites of the scheme.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised to implement the scheme in its first Cabinet meeting, the AAP had vehemently opposed implementation of the PMJAY.
It called its own scheme, Delhi Arogya Kosh (DAK), far more robust than the central scheme.
The DAK included free treatment and surgeries for any patient with annual family income up to Rs 3 lakh in government hospitals and free surgeries.
With Delhi joining the programme, West Bengal remains the only state which is not part of the scheme.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
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