Ayushman Bharat West Bengal Launch Jp Nadda Suvendu Adhikari Mou Beneficiaries

Union Health Minister JP Nadda launched the Ayushman Bharat Scheme in Bengal, saying people of the State can now access several health programmes, including the upgraded Ayushman Arogya Mandir and HPV vaccination for girl children. Taking a potshot at the previous Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, he said people of West Bengal had been deprived of the Centre’s health scheme for years because the then CM kept saying ‘hobe na’.

With the signing of the MoU between the State and National Health Authority on Monday, the only state to have remained out of the national scheme will come under its ambit. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, was present at the event.

The scheme will cover an estimated 1.43 crore households in the state — including 1.24 crore poorest households, 15.95 lakh people aged 70 and above, and 3.06 lakh frontline health workers. The Centre has already released Rs 976 crore for the implementation of the scheme in less than a month after the formation of the new government in the state.

A nine-member team from the state has already visited Delhi for training while a five-member team from the National Health Authority visited the state to prepare for implementation of the scheme. A video-conference was also held between the Nadda and Adhikari to fast-track the implementation of the scheme.

Once implemented, the inter-state portability built into the scheme will immensely benefit migrant workers and “medical tourists” from the state. CM Adhikari said that there were nearly 1 crore migrant workers who travel to other states from Bengal, who will now be able to use their Ayushman Bharat card to get treatment wherever they are located.

West Bengal Principal Secretary Manoj Kumar Agarwal added that these migrant workers already have the Swasthya Sathi card, which was introduced by the previous government, but it is of no use in the other states. On medical tourism, he said, “People travel to Tata Memorial in Mumbai, CMC Vellore, AIIMS in Delhi, Bhubaneswar, and Cuttak, Shankar Netralaya, AIG and LV Prasad in Hyderabad. Now they will be able to get benefits in all these hospitals.”

Both Nadda and Adhikari said that the previous West Bengal government had not implemented several other health schemes. CM Adhikari said that the National Health Mission — the biggest programme under the health ministry aside from Ayushman Bharat — was not implemented in the state for the two preceding financial years. “The first tranche of Rs 527 crore under NHM has already been released.”

Another Rs 976 crore for the implementation of Ayushman Bharat has also been released, with the state set to receive a total of Rs 3,500 crore as support from the Centre for implementing its health schemes. Adhikari said that the guideline to involve MPs and MLAs for TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan had also not been carried out in Bengal, but the new government has since reached out to nearly 80% of legislators in the state. The 7.5 lakh 14-year-old girls in the state had also not been receiving the HPV vaccine that had already been allocated by the Centre, he said. The new government has since immunised 33,788 girls.

Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More