Ayushman Bharat will prove to be another jumla, says Kejriwal
AAP termed the scheme ‘ another white elephant in the making’
New Delhi, Sept. 23: Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal claimed that Ayushman Bharat, the healthcare scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, is a public relation exercise which will prove to be another “jumla” ( rehtoric).
The Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) termed the scheme “another white elephant in the making” and alleged that it covers only six lakh out of 50 lakh families in Delhi.
“Pl read — why Ayushman Bharat is another PR exercise and will prove another jumla,” Mr Kejriwal said in tweet while referring to the AAP statement.
The Prime Minister rolled out the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana ( PMJAY ) - Ayushman Bharat from Ranchi Sunday, and termed it a “game- changer initiative to serve the poor”. The health scheme would come into effect from today ( Sunday), he said. “PMJAY- Ayushman Bhar- at is the biggest governmentsponsored healthcare scheme in the world. The number of beneficiaries is almost equal to the population of Canada, Mexico and the US taken together,” Mr Modi said.
The AAP, in its statement, said it was of the view a universal healthcare scheme is a must for the country and Ayushman Bharat is “not at all a universal scheme and is designed in manner which is bound to fail”.
“The Ayushman Bharat Scheme, designed by the Modi government, caters only to secondary and tertiary requirements. It gives a miss to the most important, the primary healthcare. The Modi government plans to climb the ladder of healthcare without laying a foundation; which is one of the reasons why the AAP terms the scheme as flawed. Without a strong foundation, it is destined to fall,” it said. The party claimed that there were flaws in the newly launched scheme, including that it skips primary healthcare. The AAP government has built mohalla clinics and is strengthening the existing setup, the statement by the AAP said.