Maharashtra will launch two health schemes soon, says Deepak Sawant

The Government of Maharashtra (GoM) is planning to launch two healthcare schemes for the people of the state – Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MPJA Yojana) and Balasaheb Thackeray Accident Benefit Scheme, said Deepak Sawant, Minister - Public Health and Family Welfare, Maharashtra.

“Our MPJA Yojana will come with newly added processes and procedures. It is a unique and largest scheme in India to be launched in a course of time. We are also working on an insurance scheme for the poor with orange ration cards. The scheme will cover about 2.43 crore families in the state,” the Maharashtra minister said at the CII Healthcare Conclave 2017 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The accident insurance scheme covers all accidents happening on the roads of Maharashtra and provides Rs 30,000 of cover to be paid to beneficiaries in a span of 48-72 hours from the time of the accident, Sawant added.

Proposing adoption of digital health technologies extensively in the state, Sawant said, “We are planning to adopt digital health technologies, particularly for reaching out to patients in the remote areas. That is the approach the government is taking. As far as I know, IT could be a good solution for this.” The minister has sought the technical support from the industry in this regard.

While stating that lack of sufficient number of skilled manpower in healthcare sector, including doctors, was hampering delivery of services sufficiently, Sawant suggested ‘telemedicine’ as a solution backed by appropriate technology for catering to patients in remote areas.