AAP says stance on not joining Ayushman Bharat scheme remains same

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Friday said that its stand on implementing the Centre’s flagship Ayushman Bharat scheme remains the same even in the wake of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The remark came in response to a statement made by MoS Ministry of Health Ashwini Chaubey, saying that the Centre has extended a fresh invitation to the Kejriwal government to adopt and implement its ambitious healthcare scheme.

Responding to the supplementaries in the Lok Sabha during the Question Hour on Friday, Chaubey said 17 hospitals in Delhi — 12 in the private sector and five government-run — are empanelled in the scheme.

“People from outside are getting treatment in Delhi. But people in Delhi are not able to avail the benefits (of the scheme),” the minister said.

Delhi BJP supremo Manoj Tiwari took a dig at the Kejriwal government claiming that while the latter has not joined the scheme, its Mohalla Clinics have failed to deliver due to corruption.

Chaubey said, so far 33 states have signed agreements to be part of the scheme.

However, officials clarified that the Delhi government had not departed from the stand articulated by party chief Kejriwal that it need not implement the Ayushman scheme, as its own healthcare programme is much bigger than that of the Centre’s.

Under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY), the government aims to provide health cover to 50 crore poor people. So far, about 26 lakh poor patients have benefited from the scheme by availing treatment in hospitals.