Ayushman Bharat will improve economic condition of poor, says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar also said that the state would implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme with full transparency and commitment. He said the state would also take the lead in suggesting improvement, if any, as the scheme was rolled out.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar dubbed the Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana - a big-ticket scheme of the government that would not only extend medical cover to the poor but also improve their economic condition.

(Lto R) Union minister RS Prasad, Bihar governor Lalji Tandon, chief minister Nitish Kumar, and deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi with other guests at a function, in Patna on Sunday, September 23, 2018. (Santosh Kumar/ HT Photo)

Kumar said the scheme would reduce poor people’s out-of-pocket expenditure on health and improve their economic condition.

He was speaking at a government function in Gyan Bhawan on Sunday that coincided with the launch of the world’s largest healthcare scheme across 30 states and union territories in India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ranchi.

Nearly 1.08 crore (10.8 million) families—comprising 5.80 crore (58 million) people in Bihar against 10.74 crore (107.4 million) families and 55 crore (550 million) people in India—listed under the socio-economic caste census 2011 would be benefited.

Kumar, however, cautioned that the scheme would require strict monitoring so that only the genuine availed of the benefits and it did not become a tool in the hands of unscrupulous elements to defraud the state exchequer, as some had done under the Rastriya Swasthya Bima Yojana.

He assured the gathering that the state would implement the scheme with full transparency and commitment. He said the state would also take the lead in suggesting improvement, if any, as the scheme was rolled out.

The CM also reassured the gathering that existing health schemes would continue in the state. “People with annual income of less than ₹2.5 lakh will continue to get the benefit of the Chief Minister’s Medical Relief Fund, under which we have paid up to ₹10 lakh in case of critical diseases,” he said.

He said the programmes initiated by the NDA government put the medicare system of Bihar on the rails.

Bihar governor Lalji Tandon described the scheme as the most innovative health initiative in the world and said it would add a new chapter in the annals of India’s health sector. He said it was the first time in the history of the country that such a huge health project was launched simultaneously across the nation.

Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar said the poor used to become poorer, as they spent their earnings on meeting their health requirements. “Now that Ayshman Bharat would take care of their health needs, they could divert their income to their wellbeing,” he pointed out. He said a mechanism had also be developed to control fraud in the scheme. ‘Ayushman Mitras’ would be deputed in all facilities to guide patients, he added.

“People who used to succumb to diseases owing to lack of money for treatment, would not be allowed to die anymore,” said health minister Mangal Pandey, while thanking PM Modi for the historic initiative.

Pandey said 393 government hospitals - government and private - had already been empaneled in Bihar for the treatment of people under the scheme, and many more were in the pipeline. If required the patients could also seek treatment outside the state, he added.

In his welcome address, principal secretary, health, Sanjay Kumar said his department had put in place a system for effective execution of the programme. “The patients would get treatment not only in government facilities, but also in private hospitals. Also, they could go to higher centres outside Bihar for treatment,” he added.

Union minister of electronics and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said that common service centres (CSCs) — there are over 3 lakh CSCs in India of which 32,000 (approx.) are in Bihar — would double up as ‘May I help you’ counters to provide information about the scheme.

Union ministers Ram Kripal Yadav and Ashwini Kumar Choubey, besides Bihar legislative assembly speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary and acting chairman of the legislative council Haroon Rashid also spoke on the occasion. Sanjay Kumar Singh, managing director of the Bihar Medical Services and Infrastructure Corporation Limited, proposed a vote of thanks.

While 99,58,392 families would be benefited in rural areas, 8,65,916 families would get the coverage in urban settlements of Bihar. The beneficiaries under Ayushman Bharat would get an annual medical cover of ₹5 lakh per family, without having to pay any premium. All diagnostic and medical treatment, including drugs, would be given to beneficiaries free of cost in empanelled health facilities. There was also no cap either on the size of the family or age of members of the household. Pre-existing diseases would also be covered under the scheme.