Minister highlights ‘discrepancies’ in health scheme
New Delhi, February 25
The Delhi Government, in its reply to the L-G’s letter, has said Saxena is unaware of the ground realities.
Officials in the Health Minister’s office expressed concerns over the efficacy of the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, highlighting that the L-G is under scrutiny for a perceived disconnect from the ground realities affecting the Capital’s medical infrastructure.
They said recent CAG reports have revealed that ineligible beneficiaries reap benefits from Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Furthermore, officials mentioned that other issues have come to light, such as patient data management and the participation of private hospitals. These issues raise doubts about the practicality of the scheme.
Appeals have been made to the L-G to address staff shortages and resolve outstanding payments. “It is disheartening to observe that despite serving almost one-and-a-half years as L-G, Saxena seems to have no grasp of the ground reality in Delhi,” officials added.
They attributed the high patient load from neighbouring BJP-ruled states, stating that it is incomparable to that of Delhi. They stated, “We invite Saxena to visit hospitals in border areas to witness the ground reality, which appears successful on paper but is practically a complete failure.”
Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “It is a fact that private hospitals are reluctant to work at Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) and Delhi Government Employee Health Scheme (DGEHS) rates and reputed private hospitals having super-speciality services are not empanelled under the schemes. Even the empanelled CGHS/DGEHS private hospitals refuse to provide beds to patients requiring critical care. Ayushman Bharat rates are substantially lower than CGHS/DGEHS rates. This makes the scheme an impractical scheme.”
Officials said instead of playing partisan politics, the L-G is requested to ensure that the vacant sanctioned posts of doctor, specialist, nurse and paramedic are filled and make pending payments to private hospitals empanelled under Delhi Arogya Kosh/DGEHS so they do not refuse treatment to the beneficiaries.
