Govt officials want Ayushman Bharat implementation at PGI

LUCKNOW: Senior government functionaries are unhappy with institutes like the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) and the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS) for not implementing the Ayushman Bharat Scheme in their hospitals.

Chief architect of Ayushman Bharat and member (health and nutrition) NITI Aayog -- the country’s apex policy think tank -- Dr Vinod Paul -expressed his displeasure on this issue during a programme in Lucknow on Saturday. “These hospitals cannot escape the implementation of Ayushman Bharat because of their rigid attitude,” he had said.

Chief secretary Anoop Chandra Pandey is also annoyed over the delay in the scheme’s implementation. On Monday, he summoned the director of SGPGIMS, Professor Rakesh Kapoor, to discuss the ways and means for implementing the scheme at the hospital.

The chief secretary also directed the PGI administration to implement Ayushman Bharat at the earliest. However, Prof Rakesh Kapoor said that the scheme could be implemented only if the state and the Centre provided funds in advance to the institute. “For that the PGI administration has already discussed the modalities with a team of Ayushman Bharat, but doubts still persist,” he said.

SGPGIMS officials said they were in a fix over the scheme’s implementation and wanted guidance from the government, especially regarding treatment being offered to beneficiaries under packages.

They said that the package rates did not match the rates of PGI. “Here, patients are not treated on any sort of package. They are supposed to pay the actual cost of the treatment,” said an official.

“It is wrong to say that the hospital does not want to implement the scheme, but yes, we have some concerns that we want to clarify from the authorities before implementing the scheme,” said Prof Rakesh Kapoor. “The PGI also wants clarify on what will happen if the institute rates go beyond the package rates. That’s why advance payment is most important for the hospital,” he said.