New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme on Sunday highlighted that ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme which was launched one and a half years ago has crossed over one crore beneficiaries.
PM Modi said, ” In our country, for decades, crores of impoverished citizens have been living their lives engulfed by the constant concern- what will happen if they fall ill….to seek medical treatment or worry about earning bread for the family? Realizing this distress, the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme was launched about one and a half years ago to ameliorate this constant worry. A few days ago, the number of beneficiaries of ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme crossed over one crore. More than one crore patients implies that more than one crore families of our country have been served. Do you know what more than one crore patients means? It means the cumulative population of two Norways and two Singapores have been provided free treatment in such a short time.”
“If the poor had to pay for the treatment post hospitalization, had they not received free treatment, according to a rough estimate, more than rupees 14 thousand crores would have been required to be paid out of their own pockets. The ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme has saved spending this huge amount of money belonging to the poor. I congratulate not only the beneficiaries of ‘Ayushman Bharat’ but also all the doctors, nurses and medical staff who treated patients under this scheme,” he added.
PM Modi further said, ” An important feature with the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme is its portability facility. This portability of the scheme has also helped to paint the country in the color of unity, which means, an underprivileged person from Bihar will get the same medical facility in Karnataka, which he would have got in his home state.
Similarly, if a deprived person from Maharashtra is in need of medical treatment then he would get the same treatment facility in Tamil Nadu. Due to this scheme, the underprivileged in any area where the system of health is weak are able to seek the best medical treatment in any corner of the country.”
“You will be surprised to know that 80 percent of the one crore beneficiaries hail from the rural areas of the nation. About 50 percent of these beneficiaries are our mothers and sisters and daughters. And most of these beneficiaries were suffering from diseases which could not be treated with standard medicines. Of these, 70 percent people have had surgical intervention. You can guess how these people have got rid of their trouble,” the Prime Minister said.
