New Delhi: Setting a tone for Lok sabha Polls, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that his government will launch the ambitious Ayushman Bharat healthcare scheme on September 25 which aims at benefiting 50 crore Indians.
In his last Independence Day address ahead of the next Lok Sabha election, Modi asserted his government has been working for the last four years to empower the poor and it will launch the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aroyga Abhiyan on the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay on September 25.
The ambitious Ayushman Bharat scheme, touted as the world’s largest healthcare scheme, aims to provide a coverage of '5 lakh per family annually, benefiting more than 10 crore poor families.
Noting that it is a technology driven scheme, Modi said, in the coming four to five weeks, testing of technology will be started and efforts are on to make it foolproof. He said when a person is ill, not only him but the entire family has to suffer. He also announced an ambitious mission of sending an Indian astronaut to space by 2022 on board ‘Gaganyaan’.
The mission would be launched using ISRO’s own capabilities, and on successful completion, make India the fourth nation in the world to do so. “Our country has been making a lot of progress in the area of space. By the 75th Independence Day, an Indian will undertake a manned space mission on board ‘Gaganyaan’, carrying the national flag,” Modi said.
The government has decided to start the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aroyga Abhiyan in order to provide good healthcare facilities to the poor and common people, so that they receive free health facilities in big hospitals and also for serious ailments.
The Ayushman Bharat is a scheme of giving health assurance to 10 crore families or around 50 crore Indians of this country who will be given '5 lakh cover per year, he said.
“On September 25, on the birth anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhay, it will be launched in the entire country. The result of this will be that the poor man will not suffer from illness, he will not have to borrow money (for his treatment).
“It will open new avenues of employment for youths and people from middle class. New hospitals will open,” he said.
The scheme aims to target the poor, deprived rural families and it identified an occupational category of urban workers' families, 8.03 crore in rural and 2.33 crore in urban areas, as per the latest Socio Economic Caste Census data.
Speaking on the atrocities women in the country Prime Minister Narendra Modi als called for giving wide publicity to the cases in which rapists have been awarded the death sentence, saying it would instill fear in people with “demonic mindset.” Asserting that the rule of law is supreme for his government, the Prime Minister also asked people to inculcate values and respect for women in their children.
“The country, our society need to be rid off this demonic mindset,” said Mr Modi adding that the society needs to feel a million times more pain than a rape victim endures.
