Rs 5 lakh cover for 10 cr poor families announced under Ayushman Bharat
Rs 5 lakh cover for 10 cr poor families announced under Ayushman Bharat
New Delhi: Terming it as the world's largest government funded healthcare programme, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday announced the National Health Protection Scheme under which Rs 5 lakh cover will be provided a year to 10 crore poor and vulnerable families in the country.
"We are now launching a flagship national health protection scheme to cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families. This is approximately 50 crore beneficiaries, by providing them up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation," Jaitley said presenting the 2018-19 Union Budget.
Emphasising that the initiative would take healthcare protection to a new aspirational level, Jaitley said the initiative was part of Ayushman Bharat and adequate funds will be provided for its smooth implementation.
"This was aimed at making path breaking interventions to address health holistically, in primary, secondary and tertiary care systems, covering both prevention and health promotion," said Jaitley.
Under the Ayushman Bharat, the government has also decided to fund Rs 1,200 crore for 1.5 lakh health wellness centres across the nation. The decision to convert the Primary Health Centres into wellness centres was taken in last fiscal budget (2017-18). However, the money was not allocated for it.
The healthcare industry termed the government's National Health Protection Scheme as an out of the box idea, saying that it will emerge a boon for the beneficiaries.
Jaitley stated that the two schemes will also generate lakhs of jobs, particularly for women.
According to Healthcare Foundation of India (NATHEALTH), a body focused to develop and optimize healthcare infrastructure, the National Health Protection Scheme will go a long way to achieve the goals of Universal Health Coverage.
Jaitley as part of the union budget (2018-19) also announced Rs 600 crore for nutritional support of Tuberculosis patients in India.
"The Government also decided to allocate additional Rs 600 crore to provide nutritional support to all TB patients at the rate of Rs 500 per month for the duration of their treatment," said Jaitley.
A total of 24 new government medical colleges have also been announced as part of the new initiative for health by the government.
"To enhance accessibility of quality medical education and health care, 24 new Government Medical Colleges and Hospitals will be set up, by up-grading existing district hospitals in the country," said Jaitley.
According to the finance minister, this move would ensure that there is at least one Medical College for every three Parliamentary Constituencies and at least one Government Medical College in each state of the country.
He said the government has provided affordable medicines through more than 3,000 Jan Aushadhi centres; reduced prices of stents; and provided free dialysis services for the poor.
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Ranchi: Temple guard bludgeoned to death during robbery attempt, 3 held
Ranchi (PTI): A 60-year-old security guard of a temple in Ranchi was bludgeoned to death with a stone during a robbery attempt, police said on Saturday.
The incident happened late on Thursday at the Jagannath Temple in the Dhurwa Smart City area, they said.
"Three persons were arrested on Friday for killing the security guard. They confessed to the crime and told police that the victim had identified them. Therefore, in fear of being caught, they killed him by attacking him with a stone on his head," SSP Rakesh Ranjan said.
"Thereafter, they took money from the donation box and fled the scene. Two of them have criminal antecedents," he added.
Ranjan said the investigators recovered Rs 3 lakh in cash that had been robbed, the stone with blood-stained marks, and the iron rod used to break open the lock of the donation box kept there.
An FIR in this regard was lodged at the Dhurwa police station, he said, adding that the accused were sent to judicial custody by a court.
