Central team to meet Punjab health officials to address their concerns

PUNJAB HEALTH MINISTER BRAHM MOHINDRA HAD ATTENDED THE SHIMLA MEETING, BUT DID NOT SIGN THE MOU EXPRESSING STATE’S RESERVATIONS OVER THE SCHEME

CHANDIGARH : The Centre has decided to send its team to hold talks with Punjab health department officials soon to address state’s concerns over the launch of ‘Aayushmaan Bharat’ — the much-hyped insurance scheme of the BJP-led NDA government, also known as ‘Modicare’.

The scheme will provide a benefit cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year on 60:40 finance-sharing between the Centre and states.

Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission (ABNHPM), the implementing agency for the insurance scheme formed by the government, has decided to send its team to Punjab as the state had refused to sign the MoU regarding the implementation of the scheme at a function held for North Indian states in Shimla on May 14.

Punjab health minister Brahm Mohindra had attended the Shimla meeting, but did not sign the MoU expressing state’s reservations over the scheme on various grounds.

A top functionary of the health department said the ABNHPM team has confirmed that it will visit Punjab to discuss the state’s objections over the scheme. “The date of the visit is likely to be confirmed by next week,” said one of the seniormost officials of the department on condition of anonymity.

When contacted, Mohindra claimed that he was hopeful that the Centre would redress the state’s issues in the upcoming meeting. On June 18, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, in his address at the NITI Ayog meeting in Delhi, also conveyed Punjab’s point of view on the issue.

As per senior department officials, though Punjab did not sign the MoU regarding the scheme, it has not adopted an adamant stand on its implementation.

After the boycott of the signing of the MoU, Mohindra had written a letter to Union health minister Jagat Parkash Nadda on June 7, raising Punjab’s main concerns.