Ayushman scheme: Govt yet to take a call on MoU

New Delhi: In order to include more beneficiaries in the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat health scheme, the Delhi government will be proposing the inclusion of criteria like food security cardholders and below average consumption of electricity.

Under the health insurance scheme that aims to provide coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family annually and benefit more than 10 crore poor families across India, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, beneficiaries are being identified based on the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) data of 2011 in the rural and urban areas.

However, the Delhi government has said that the data being used to ascertain the beneficiaries will cover only around 15-20 per cent population (20 lakh) of the city.

“As per SECC data, only the rural population is covered and Delhi doesn’t have many people under the rural belt. So, we will be proposing the inclusion of National Food Security cardholders, which will add more 70-80 lakh people under the scheme,” said Kirti Bhushan, the director general of health services. Power consumption can be used as another criterion, he said, adding that families using less than two kilowatts of electricity can be included under the scheme.

The Delhi government is also planning to implement its own health insurance scheme and hence is yet to take a call on signing a MoU with the Centre over Ayushman Bharat National Health.

PM Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day speech, said his government will launch the ambitious scheme on September 25.

While Punjab, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Delhi are yet to come on board, Odisha has refused to be a part of the scheme, an official said.