ITANAGAR, 31 Mar: The State Health Agency (SHA), in collaboration with the Itanagar Municipality Corporation and the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) district administration, conducted intensive verification drives to create Ayushman cards under the AB PM-JAY for the beneficiaries in various areas of the ICR.
The drives commenced from the Govt Middle School in Papu Nallah (Ward 13) on 11 March, and concluded at the Govt Middle School in Lekhi on Saturday.
During the drives, over 1,100 eligible beneficiaries were verified. The ward corporators, along with ward members, youth groups, and the ASHA network actively participated in the programme by identifying beneficiaries in their respective areas and raising awareness.
The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) and the Chief Minister Arogya Arunachal Yojana (CMAAY) provide health assurance coverage of up to Rs 5 lakhs per family per year to the beneficiaries. In the case of Arunachal Pradesh, the targetted beneficiary families under the AB PM-JAY are 98,844, out of which 52,698 families have been verified so far. This indicates a poor performance for a national-level flagship scheme.
The districts having the maximum number of beneficiaries are Upper Subansiri, followed by Tawang, Papum Pare, and Changlang, having more than 6,500 eligible beneficiary families. The leading districts in beneficiary saturation are Lohit, Upper Siang and East Siang, with more than 70 percent of the beneficiary families verified.
“Ensuring saturation of beneficiary identification under the AB PM-JAY is crucial to ensure proper implementation of the programme in the state for the benefit of its citizens. There may be instances where patients from Arunachal seek treatment in hospitals located outside the state that are empanelled under the AB PM-JAY. In such cases, the patient(s) may be eligible under the scheme, but due to non-verification and unawareness, they would be bearing the hospitalisation expenses out of pocket. Therefore it is essential to verify every eligible beneficiary under the scheme and provide them with Ayushman cards. This will enable them to avail of the benefits without any financial burden,” informed an official of the SHA.
She further said that, “in every district, eKYC of eligible beneficiaries is currently ongoing in a mission mode in the respective empanelled hospitals (eg all general/district hospitals) by a team of district programme coordinators and arogya mitras – a task force for implementation of the AB PM-JAY/CMAAY in the districts.
“Additionally, the Ayushman app is available for download on Android phones for searching beneficiaries and self-registration.
“Detailed information may be obtained from the toll-free numbers 18002335558, or 9402914555,” she added.
