PM Modi hits out at Delhi, Bengal for not implementing Ayushman Bharat
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the Delhi and West Bengal governments on Tuesday for not implementing the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme due to "political interests" and said he was pained that the elderly in these places cannot avail free treatment under the expanded programme.
The prime minister on Tuesday extended his government's flagship health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat to all senior citizens aged 70 and above.
"I apologise to all the elderly aged 70 and above in Delhi and West Bengal that I cannot serve them. I would get to know about your pains and sufferings but I won't be able to help you," Modi said.
"The reason is that the governments in Delhi and West Bengal are not joining the scheme due to their political interests," he stated, adding that the tendency to be oppressive against the sick people of one's own state for political interests does not align with the idea of humanity.
People aged above 70 will get free treatment in hospitals and they will be given 'the Ayushman Vaya Vandana' card, Modi said.
"I am able to serve the people of the country but the walls of the political profession are preventing me from serving the elderly people of Delhi and West Bengal," he said.
Elections in Delhi are due in 2025 and in West Bengal in 2026.
Modi who launched development projects worth over Rs 12,850 crore on the occasion of the ninth Ayurveda Day and the birth anniversary of Dhanvantari, the Hindu god of medicine, said that during this year's general election, he had promised that people aged 70 and above would be brought under the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme during the third term of his government.
"This guarantee is being fulfilled today," he said, adding he will not rest till the poor and middle class of the country are free from the burden of expensive treatment.
Modi said nearly four crore poor people have availed the benefits under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
