About 6.33 lakh people out of 1.35 crore eligible beneficiaries have so far enrolled under ‘Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana’ (AB-PMJAY) in Assam, Health Minister Keshab Mahanta said in the state Assembly on Friday.
He also said the number of eligible beneficiaries will rise to over 2.50 crore under AB-PMJAY and ‘Ayushman Bharat Mukhya Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-MMJAY) as the state government has decided to identify the beneficiaries on the basis of National Food Security Act (NFSA) database, rather than the current practise of using Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) data.
Replying to an unstarred question by AIUDF legislator Nijanur Rahman, Mahanta said there are about 1.35 crore eligible people (27 lakh families) for availing benefits under AB-PMJAY, as per SECC data. Out of these, 6,33,276 have been issued ‘golden card’ through the ‘Beneficiary Identification System’.
The number of eligible people under AB-PMJAY and AB-MMJAY will increase to about 2.52 crore as the state government has decided to extend the benefits to NFSA beneficiaries. Previously, the beneficiaries for these schemes were identified on the basis of SECC data, he added.
Under these two schemes, each eligible family receives cashless treatment facilities for up to Rs 5 lakh per annum for diseases under 24 specialised categories, involving 1,578 procedures. The minister said over 1.63 crore people have been issued beneficiary card under ‘Atal Amrit Abhiyan’, a flagship cashless treatment scheme of the state government. He also said that enrolment facilities for these health schemes are available at government establishments, including hospitals, while private vendors have also been enlisted for 'Aap ke Dwar Ayushman’ programme, an intensified drive to increase enrolment under the Central schemes.
