Ambitious Modi healthcare scheme gets red flag
New Delhi: The Modi government has released less than half of the budgeted allocation for health insurance of poor families in fiscal 2017-18, even as it promised to step up coverage with the proposed launch of what is called the world's largest government healthcare programme.
According to a parliamentary panel’s report, the revenue allocation of Rs 975 crore for the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) was reduced to Rs 565 crore and, as the year progressed, the actual release was just Rs 450 crore --less than half of the budget estimate.
"Funds as central share of premium under RSBY of approximately Rs 450 crore were only released for such states that submitted their proposal during the year 2017-18," said the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare in its report.
As for the reason for reducing the budgeted allocation, the panel quoted the Department of Health and Family Welfare, saying: "This ministry had moved a proposal for another scheme with enhanced cover of Rs 1 lakh per family.
"However, this proposal is still pending with the cabinet. Therefore, such states that were waiting for the new scheme to be launched did not submit any proposal and meanwhile stopped implementation of RSBY."
The proposed National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS), which would subsume RSBY, would cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families, and the coverage is further enhanced to Rs 5 lakh per family per year.
However, the Parliamentary Standing Committee has warned of possible failures.
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Ramdev criticises US, Israel over Iran war; video viral
New Delhi: Yoga guru Baba Ramdev has sharply criticised the United States and Israel over their conflict with Iran, in a video from a television interview that has gone viral on social media.
Speaking on a show aired by ABP News, Ramdev was asked whether India should support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was reported to have been killed on the first day of the war on February 28.
Responding to the question, Ramdev said, “You can kill a person, but you cannot kill his ideas, his philosophy, his mindset, his spirit, or his valour and heroism.”
He went on to express support for Iran, saying he may not know much about the country but believes its people cannot be subdued. Referring to the Shia Muslim community, he said no one could make them “bow down” or defeat them, adding that a significant section of Iran’s population strongly identifies with Khamenei’s ideology.
When asked about Netanyahu, Ramdev criticised both him and US President Donald Trump, saying they are “both cut from the same cloth.” He added, “I am not calling anyone a thief; I am simply citing a proverb it implies that they are both of the same ilk, and I consider them both to be war criminals. I consider them criminals against humanity; I consider them criminals against nature and the environment.”
He further said that the United States and Israel have “erected a Himalaya-sized mountain of political mistrust” and claimed that both countries would have to face the consequences for decades. “In this conflict, neither can America and Israel emerge victorious, nor can Iran be defeated,” he said.
Ramdev’s remarks come at a time when India’s position on the conflict has drawn attention. The government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has maintained what it describes as “strategic autonomy” in foreign policy.
