Jammu, December 26: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched PM Jan Arogya Yojna SEHAT scheme, Jammu and Kashmir became the first place in the country to have a universal health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh for its all the 1.30 crore people.
Addressing them through video conferencing across all the districts of UT, he said that that they can now get free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh in any of the 24,000 hospitals across the country without any hurdles, but they may have to face difficulties in West Bengal.
“Your free treatment under the Ayushman Bharat SEHAT scheme will not be confined to only the government and private hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir, but in 24,000 hospitals across the country,’’ PM said while addressing people at Convention Centre here through virtual mode. “In case you have gone to Mumbai and suddenly come across some problem, the SEHAT card will help you as a companion there and in case of your being in Kerala, the hospitals there too will give you free treatment,’’ he said.
“Aap Kolkata gaye hein to wahan mushkil hogi, kyunki wahan ki sarkar Ayushman Yojana se nahi juri hai. Kuch log hotey hein…Kya karein’’ (You have gone to Kolkata then there will be problem as the government there is not associated with Ayushman Bharat Scheme. There are always some people, what we can do), PM said.
He said that while six lakh families in Jammu and Kashmir were already provided the health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh under the PM-JAY, the SEHAT scheme will ensure the same benefit to the remaining 20 lakh families in the UT. PM also interacted some of the beneficiaries of the PM-JAY scheme on the occasion.
Marking the launch of scheme with immediate effect, UT’s Lt Governor Manoj Sinha distributed “Golden Cards’’ to a number of beneficiaries on the occasion. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Minister of State in the PMO Dr Jitendra Singh also attended the function through virtual mode.
The Social Endeavour for Health and Telemedicine (SEHAT) scheme will cover one crore population that was not covered previously under the Ayushman Bharat PM Jan Arogya Yojana (PMMJY). So far, around 30 lakh people in Jammu and Kashmir were covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
The beneficiaries are entitled to free health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year and there is no restriction on family size, age or gender. Sinha said the programme was organized in all the districts of the UT through video conferencing.