Arvind Kejriwal announces new health scheme for Delhi's elderly population
Arvind Kejriwal said the scheme will be implemented once the AAP forms the government after winning the election.
The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday announced a new health scheme for senior citizens in Delhi ahead of the upcoming assembly election in February.
Kejriwal announced that elderly citizens over 60 years of age will receive treatment free of cost in both government and private hospitals under the new scheme called Sanjeevani Yojana. “There will be no upper limit on the cost of treatment. Registration for this will start in a day or two… AAP workers will come to your home for registration. They will give you a card, keep it safe. Once we come into power after the elections, this policy will be implemented,” ANI quoted the former Delhi chief minister as saying.
“There are a lot of errors in the central government's scheme and Delhi government has launched a better scheme correcting those errors,” said Delhi Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj.
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BJP, AAP face-off over PMJAY
Kejriwal's announcement comes after the face-off between the opposition BJP and the ruling AAP over non-implementation of the Centre's Aayushmaan Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY). Seven BJP MPs moved the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the Delhi government to implement the scheme.
The petitioners Harsh Malhotra, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Praveen Khandelwal, Yogendra Chandolia, Manoj Tiwari, Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Bansuri Swaraj argued that citizens in the capital were facing high out-of-pocket medical expenses due to the non-implementation of the scheme.
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The Delhi High Court on November 27 sought the Delhi government's stance on implementing the scheme and said that steps must be taken to iron out the differences within the Delhi administration.
Following the high court's remarks, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi directed the health department to formulate a mechanism to incorporate the benefits of the Ayushman Bharat scheme without withdrawing the benefits of the Delhi government's free healthcare facilities for the people.
“The exclusions under Ayushman Bharat do not align with this system. The government does not want to take away free medical care from anyone. Therefore, directions have been issued to the Health Department to devise a mechanism that ensures no one in Delhi is deprived of the free healthcare services they currently receive while also incorporating the benefits of Ayushman Bharat,” Atishi had said.
(With inputs from agencies)
