The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday termed the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat health scheme as “another white elephant in the making”. The party said that it recognises the need for a universal healthcare, but added that Ayushman Bharat was bound to fail.
“The Ayushman Bharat scheme, designed by the Modi government, caters only to secondary and tertiary requirements. It gives a miss to the most important: primary healthcare. The Centre plans to climb the ladder of healthcare without laying a foundation, which is one of the reasons why the AAP terms the scheme as flawed... it is destined to fall,” the party said in a statement.
The AAP also said that the scheme was not universal in nature as it covered a very small population of those who are below poverty line and that it was a scheme only for admitted patients.
“AAP is of the belief that the Modi government should have learnt from the successful Delhi Model of healthcare and should have incorporated those in the scheme. Delhi Government provides all medicines, tests, operations and other healthcare requirements for free to all patients; it doesn’t cater only to those admitted,” the AAP said.