PM launches mother of all healthcares

Patna: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday rolled out the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY)-Ayushman Bharat, deemed as the world’s largest government-funded healthcare programme covering over 50 crore beneficiaries and termed it a “game-changer initiative to serve the poor”.

“PMJAY-Ayushman Bharat is the biggest government-sponsored healthcare scheme in the world. The number of beneficiaries is almost equal to the population of Canada, Mexico and the US taken together,” Mr Modi said at the scheme’s launch event at Ranchi’s Prabhat Tara ground on Sunday.

Dedicating the scheme to the “service of the daridranayaran (service of the poor equivalent to worshipping God),” Mr Modi said that the policymakers in the past never tried to empower the poor, but only paid lip service to their cause hoping to get votes.

“I have seen and lived the life of a poor man, so I know the importance of self-respect and dignity in their lives. I am trying my best to fulfill their dreams and protect their dignity. It is the BJP government that is focused on empowering them,” he said.

“I hope and pray that the poor don’t have to visit hospitals, but if they do, the Ayushman cover will be at their service. The poor of my country must get all facilities that the rich enjoy,” he said.

The ambitious Ayushman Bharat scheme aims to provide annual coverage of '5 lakh per family, with an average size of five members, benefiting more than 50 crore people for secondary and tertiary care and hospitalisation through a network of empanelled health care providers.

Aadhaar card is not mandatory for availing the benefits of the scheme that promises cashless hospitalisation, surgical procedures at 13,000 government and private hospitals.

The entitlement of each family will be decided on the basis of deprivation criteria in the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011.

The Prime Minister said that the magnitude of the scheme can be gauged from the fact that more than 1,300 ailments are covered under it, including heart diseases, kidney and liver disorders and diabetes.