AAP’s health scheme ‘ten times bigger’ than Ayushman Bharat: Kejriwal writes to Union Health Minister

Amid ongoing tussle with the Centre over offering free rides to women in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan saying AAP government’s health scheme is ‘ten times bigger and comprehensive’ than Centre’s Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).

The chief minister also emphasized that if his government's health scheme is closed and the Ayushman Bharat is implemented in Delhi, it will be a loss for the citizens of the city as there are less than 10 per cent beneficiaries of the Ayushman Bharat in the national capital.

Delhi CM writes to Min for Health&Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan, states "A good health scheme is already implemented in Delhi. Stopping it&implementing another won't benefit anyone. If Delhi's Health Scheme is stopped&Ayushman Bharat Yojana implemented, residents will be affected" pic.twitter.com/yrgbYFAs9w

— ANI (@ANI) June 7, 2019

Every citizen is beneficiary of health scheme of AAP’s government which means Delhi's two crore population is covered, said Kejriwal.

"Those whose income is more than Rs 10,000 does not come under Ayushman Bharat, which means those earning less than minimum wages (notified by Delhi government) is out of this scheme," Kejriwal said.

"I am happy to tell you that Ayushman Bharat has already been implemented in Delhi a long time back. The Delhi government's health scheme is 10 ten times bigger and comprehensive than Ayushman Bharat," Kejriwal said in his two-page letter in Hindi to Harsh Vardhan.

Taking a dig at Centre over the Ayushman Bharat scheme, Kejriwal said that despite it being in place in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, lakhs of patients from these two states come to Delhi every day to get medical treatment.

Hardly any citizen of Delhi goes to Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to get treatment, which indicates that Delhi's health scheme is functioning well, Kejriwal said.

Earlier, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said that the AAP dispensation would not implement Ayushman Bharat scheme in the city as it seeks to provide equitable treatment to all residents.

Jain had also said if the Centre's Ayushman Bharat is so good, why people from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are "forced" to seek treatment in government hospitals in Delhi.

His comments came days after Harsh Vardhan wrote to the chief ministers of Delhi, Odisha, Telangana and West Bengal, urging them to join the Centre's flagship health insurance scheme.

The AB-PMJAY scheme aims to provide a coverage of Rs five lakh per family annually, benefitting more than 10.74 crore poor families for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation through a network of empanelled healthcare providers.

With PTI Inputs