Parties that didn't implement Ayushman Bharat scheme in states voted out of power, Bengal's turn next: J P Nadda

New Delhi: Union Health Minister and BJP chief J P Nadda took a dig at political opponents on Thursday, saying the ruling parties that did not implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme in their states were voted out of power and asserting that it is West Bengal's turn next.

After signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on April 5 to implement the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), the Delhi government on Thursday signed another MoU with the Centre for the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), which was launched in October 2021 to ensure that the public health infrastructure effectively manages future pandemics and outbreaks of diseases.

Addressing a gathering after the signing of the MoU, Nadda said the AB-PMJAY is the world's largest health-coverage programme under which 62 crore people are currently being benefitted. "It is a moment of pride that 36 lakh people in Delhi will be benefitted by the AB-PMJAY now," he added.

Nadda also informed that with the implementation of the AB-PMJAY in Delhi, all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their socio-economic status, will be covered under the Ayushman Vay Vandana Yojana.

He highlighted that 8.19 crore people have already availed treatment under the scheme and the government has spent a total amount of Rs 1.26 lakh crore for the same.

Of the beneficiaries, 19 lakh were downtrodden people who could not have afforded these treatment without the Ayushman Bharat health coverage, he said. "As a result of the Ayushman Bharat scheme, out-of-pocket expenditure has declined from 62 per cent to 38 per cent today," Nadda said.

He reiterated that the AB-PMJAY is an "assurance" and not an "insurance" scheme, whereby the government assures the beneficiaries of a Rs 5-lakh health coverage and on top of that, the Delhi government has added another Rs 5 lakh, amounting to a total coverage of Rs 10 lakh.

Nadda said Delhi faced a black chapter for seven years as even though the scheme was launched in 2018, 36 lakh people, including six lakh elderly people, remained deprived of its benefits.

"There is a need for you to ponder on how your rights are curtailed when a wrong government comes to power. And when the right government comes, you get what is rightfully yours within 50 days," he said.

Three states had refused to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme, Nadda said.

"One was Odisha, where the previous government fell and the lotus (the BJP's poll symbol) bloomed. The second one was Delhi, where the government was voted out of power and the lotus bloomed. Now, only one state -- West Bengal -- remains. There too the lotus will bloom and the government would be ousted," the Bharatiya Janata Party chief said.

He said governments that do injustice to people do not survive.

Nadda said after the Covid-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had allocated Rs 64,000 crore for ramping up healthcare infrastructure to deal with Covid-like emergencies and therefore, the PM-ABHIM was implemented in 2021-22.

He said as part of the PM-ABHIM, Delhi was allocated Rs 2,406 crore but the previous AAP government even went to the Supreme court to prevent its implementation.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said health has always been a priority for the BJP-led Centre.

"Besides improving health infrastructure and making quality and affordable medicines accessible to the masses, Prime Minister Modi has always laid stress on nutrition, yoga, meditation etc., which shows the emphasis being given to the health sector," she said.

Gupta informed that "for the NCT (National Capital Territory) of Delhi, an amount of Rs 1,749 crore has been approved for the establishment of 1,139 urban ayushman arogya mandirs (AAMs), strengthening of 11 integrated public health laboratories (IPHLs) and nine critical care blocks (CCBs) under the PM-ABHIM during the scheme period".

She said the AAMs would provide better health services than the mohalla clinics set up by the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.

Gupta said when Ayushman Bharat was launched, the Delhi chief minister was asked to implement it, but the national capital remained bereft of these healthcare services for the last several years.

Nadda and other dignitaries distributed Ayushman cards to 30 AB-PMJAY beneficiaries in Delhi. The beneficiaries represented different socio-economic profiles of the population of Delhi.

Both the AB-PMJAY and the PM-ABHIM fall under the umbrella of Ayushman Bharat and were launched on mission mode to improve healthcare accessibility, affordability and availability.

While the AB-PMJAY, launched on September 23, 2018, has been a game-changer in healthcare, mainly for the millions of poor and vulnerable families across the country, the PM-ABHIM has made robust outcomes in strengthening healthcare infrastructure, leapfrogging India to one of the most-advanced countries in terms of management of public health during peak healthcare demand.