‘PM hoodwinking people over Ayushman Bharat’
Kolkata: Reacting sharply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that Bengal is not implementing Ayushman Bharat for political reasons, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday accused Modi of “hoodwinking” the people as the Centre’s health scheme has a stringent and restrictive eligibility criteria that excludes a large section of people from availing its benefits.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday said that the ground reality in connection with the Ayushman Bharat is quite different from what PM Modi had said. While the PM claimed that the scheme wasn’t implemented in Bengal due to “political reasons,” TMC leaders in Bengal slammed the “lie”, adding that Bengal doesn’t need an “exclusionary” initiative.
In an address to the media on Tuesday, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh debunked the PM’s claim and said that he was trying to hoodwink the people. Continued from Page 1
In reality, the scheme has stringent and restrictive eligibility criteria that exclude a large section of people from availing of its benefits.
Ghosh further praised Bengal’s pathbreaking Swasthya Sathi initiative, introduced by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as it offers an “inclusive healthcare coverage.”
Ghosh said: “It is very easy to say that people are not getting Ayushman Bharat. But what about the terms and conditions that have to be met to avail of the benefits of the scheme? Even if you have a smartphone, you will become ineligible for the scheme. Half of the population will fall out of the eligibility criteria because of these complex requirements.”
Drawing a comparison with the state government’s health scheme, Ghosh further stated: “The Swasthya Sathi scheme under the leadership of CM Mamata Banerjee covers every member of a family without any such prerequisites. Our
scheme has a more reliable safety net as compared to BJP’s bogus claims.”
“I would ask the Prime Minister not to misguide people by stating such absurd things. Yet, if you want to continue making such statements, kindly highlight the terms and conditions of the other scheme too. It is unfortunate that despite knowing the reality of such schemes, the PM chose to deceive and misinform people. Our Swasthya Sathi scheme is totally free and covers a treatment cost up to Rs 5 lakh. We don’t take any money from the Centre…” he added.
In April this year, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also criticised the Centre for
bringing in a scheme that is embroiled in stringent eligibility criteria.
While launching development projects related to healthcare and extending his government’s flagship health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, the prime minister targeted the AAP government in Delhi and the Trinamool government in Bengal saying that elderly in Delhi and Bengal won’t be able to benefit from the scheme as their governments are not implementing it for political reasons.
