'Vajpayee Aarogya Sri to cover BPL families without cards'

Plans are underway to extend benefits of Vajpayee Aarogya Sri scheme to poor people, who could not receive BPL cards for various technical reasons, said Suvarna Aarogya Suraksha Trust Executive Director Dr Boregowda.

At the mega health camp organised under the scheme, at the Kamala Nehru Sanatorium Hospital on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday, he said many including auto drivers have not obtained the BPL cards, hence, they are deprived of the scheme’s facilities. The extended programme will cover them as well, he added.

The project was launched on an experimental basis in 2010 at Gulbarga and was later extended to Belgaum in August 2010. In 2012, the scheme has been extended to Bangalore and Mysore division.

Considering the scheme’s overwhelming success in the State, Gujarat government is implementing the similar scheme. Under the project, health camps will be conducted in every taluks, he said. Families with the BPL cards will be provided Rs 1.5 lakh per year and additional Rs 50,000 will be provided to them, he added.

Deputy Commissioner D S Vishwanath, Minister R Varthur Prakash, Zilla Panchayat president Chowdeshwari, and District Health Officer Dr Prakash Kumar were present.