The State government’s decision to dovetail Arogyasri scheme with Ayushman Bharat scheme of the Central Government is set to raise many an eyebrows.
Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the video conference that the State government has decided to dovetail the Arogyasri project implemented in the State with the Ayushman Bharat, the comprehensive health coverage project launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government a couple of years ago.
The State government, during the launch of the Ayushman Bharat (Prime Minister’s Jan Arogya Yojana), opted out of the scheme citing several conditions restricting the coverage of the beneficiaries.
The government had contended that only about 26.11 lakh families would be covered under the Ayushman Bharat, just one third of the 77.19 lakh families covered under the Arogyasri.
Families covered under Arogyasri were being provided coverage ranging between ₹2 lakh to ₹13 lakh and the government had made budgetary allocation in excess of ₹750 crore for the scheme as against the ₹260 crore allocated to the State under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
The government’s decision to dovetail Arogyasri with Ayushman Bharat has raised many an eyebrow given the vehement opposition conveyed by the State government over the past several months to join the scheme.
