Yeshasvini scheme will be re-introduced: Kumaraswamy

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday said that the Union government has presented a ‘Dhoka’ (deceptive) budget and the state government is thinking of re-introducing the Yeshasvini health scheme.

“While the state has earmarked Rs 700 crore for the health sector, the Centre has provided only Rs 200 crore under Ayushman Bharat. Following the health schemes by the Union government, the state had removed schemes, like Yeshasvini. Now, the state government is thinking to reintroduce Yashasvini for secondary treatment. It will be announced in the upcoming budget,” Kumaraswamy said.

He was speaking to reporters after inaugurating the newly-constructed bus stand here. He said, “The Central budget has no major benefits and a majority of the proposals made by the state have not been considered. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’ health scheme Ayushman Bharat, a health protection scheme, is a mix of Karnataka’s health programmes, such as Arogya Shree. Karnataka had health programmes eight years ago, but the Union government is projecting it as it’s own project”.

“The Union government has not considered the proposals of Karnataka. How will Rs 17 per day per farming family help? The budget is not helpful to any state. We need to educate the people about it,”Kumaraswamy said.

The Centre has failed to allocate funds for the sub-urban railway project even though Bengaluru generates huge revenues. The state had urged Union Railway Minister
Piyush Goyal to earmark funds for the project and he had agreed. But, no funds have been announced, he said.

Kumaraswamy said that the income tax rebate to individuals with an income up to Rs 5 lakh has lapses and no one has noticed them. However, he did not elaborate on them.

The Yeshasvini scheme was introduced when S M Krishna (Congress) was the chief minister. It later lost relevance with other health schemes of both the Centre and the state governments.