Moving forward to fulfill it’s next poll promise, the Delhi government is likely to sign an MoU with the National Health Authority (NHA) on March 18 to implement the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
With this move, Delhi will become the 35th state or UT to adopt the flagship healthcare scheme of BJP government, leaving West Bengal as the only state without it.
“The MoU will be signed on March 18 in the presence of Union Health Minister JP Nadda. Five families will receive their AB-PMJAY cards, officially making them beneficiaries of the scheme,” PTI said citing sources.
The implementation of AB-PMJAY was a major election promise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recent Delhi Assembly elections. The previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had refused to implement the scheme, opting instead for its own healthcare initiative.
Following the BJP’s landslide victory on February 8, which brought the party back to power in Delhi after 27 years, the new administration swiftly moved to fulfill its campaign commitment to provide cashless healthcare benefits to citizens.
The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is the world’s largest government-funded health insurance scheme. It provides Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospital care to nearly 550 million beneficiaries from 123.7 million economically weaker families, covering the bottom 40 per cent of India’s population.
On October 29, 2024, the central government expanded AB-PMJAY to include senior citizens aged 70 and above, providing them with free treatment benefits up to Rs 5 lakh per year, regardless of their socio-economic background.
