PM Modi to Inaugurate the Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission from Jharkhand

Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM), a central government flagship programme is all set to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Jharkhand on Sunday. Previously called as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan (PMJAY), the newly named scheme is going to be an ambitious scheme. As per this scheme, a financial coverage of Rs five lakh each family will be provided to more than 10 crore poor families every year.

There will be particular eligibility criteria for the scheme which are necessary for the families to meet in order to avail the government aid and avail benefits in the listed private hospitals. Only the poor, deprived rural families and identified the occupational category of urban workers' families will be considered as eligible to avail a sum of total 8.03 crore in rural and 2.33 crore in urban areas. This ambitious project will cover around 50 crore people.

As per the deprivation category maintained by the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), a family will be eligible only if it falls in the D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, or D7 category. Apart from the deprivation category, there are 11 occupational categories as well and it is a must for the eligible family to be involved in any of the eleven categories. These eleven categories include rag pickers, beggars, domestic workers, street vendors, cobblers/hawkers/ other service providers working on streets, construction workers/ plumbers/ masons/ labours/ painters/ welders/security guards/ coolies and other head-load workers and sanitation workers.

Apart from the aforementioned occupational categories, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) beneficiaries in the states will also be eligible for it.

Other features of the scheme are that there will be no age bar and no particular mention on the family size. The eligible beneficiary will also have to produce Aadhaar card or election ID card or ration card. Moreover, if the eligible family’s any member gets hospitalized in any of the listed hospitals, they will not have to pay anything under the scheme.

For further helping out the beneficiaries, the National Health Agency (NHA) has launched a website along with a helpline number which will help the beneficiaries in checking their name in the final list.