New Delhi, July 4: The National Health Agency (NHA) on Wednesday called on public and private hospitals to get empaneled under the Ayushman Bharat programme, popularly known as Modicare, with the "motto of service to mankind" to achieve universal health coverage.

"I call upon each one of you to partner with the mission through the empanelment process initiated today to enhance the accessibility," NHA and Ayushman Bharat CEO Indu Bhushan said, urging the healthcare service providers to join the revolution in "spirit and deed".

Bhushan also requested the governments of all states and Union Territories to help the Ayushman Bharat - National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM) in garnering the support of hospitals and healthcare providers across the country for the path-breaking mission.

The objective is to improve access for the most vulnerable, unreached sections of the population and holistically address healthcare by covering prevention, promotion and ambulatory care at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, Bhushan said. 

Ayushman Bharat Deputy CEO Dinesh Arora said the mission provides financial protection to 10.74 crore deprived rural families and identified occupational categories of urban workers' families as per the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data. It provides a cover for cashless hospitalization services of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year.

The State Health Agencies (SHA) will start empaneling private and public healthcare service providers and facilities through State Empanelment Committees (SEC). At the district and block level, workshops will be held to brief on empanelment criteria, packages, processes and queries. 

Facilities undertaking defined speciality packages will be required to satisfy additional requirements.

Specific criteria are outlined for cardiology and cardio-thoracic vascular services, cancer care, neurosurgery, burns, plastic and reconstructive surgery, neonatal/paediatric surgery, polytrauma, nephrology and urology surgery.

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Bengaluru: A life convict lodged in Ballari Central Prison has successfully cleared the second PUC examination.

Ashok Kumar S, who appeared for the examination under prison escort, secured 481 marks out of 600, registering 80.1 percent. 

Director General of Police (Prisons and Correctional Services), Alok Kumar (IPS), shared the development on his official ‘X’ handle, commending the inmate’s achievement.

In his post, he stated that it was heartening to see a life convict score over 80 percent in the examination, adding that the inmate had appeared from Ballari Central Prison under escort.

He further noted that the achievement reflected that the “walls of the prison have not subdued his hopes for a better future.”

Alok Kumar in his post also shared the result sheet of Ashok. 

The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) declared the second PUC results for 2026 on April 9.

A total of 6,32,200 students appeared for the examination across all streams, of whom 5,46,698 passed, recording an overall pass percentage of 86.48 per cent.