September 24, 2018: Born almost three years after Independence, Parul Debnath feels herself truly independent after receiving the ‘golden card’ under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana yesterday.
Amidst resounding clapping, much ambitious Ayushman Bharat under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana was formally launched in the State by Chief Minister Biplab Deb at a mega programme in Children’s park in Agartala on September 23. The Governor Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki, Health Minister Sudip Roy Barman, MLAs Ashish Saha and Ram Prasad Pal and officials of Health department were also present in the programme. In the programme, 18 beneficiaries received golden cards under the scheme today.
Overwhelmed with emotion, 68-year old Parul Debnath barely managed to say, “With the golden card in my hand, I need not to worry about arranging finances anymore for my treatment – Government will now shoulder medical expenses. I pray to the God for well beings of the Prime Minister who relieved people like me from uncertainties ”.
Her reaction was echoed in Chief Minister Biplab Deb’s inaugural speech when he referred to mounting medical costs and plight of common people.
Biplab Deb said, every year several families slips back into BPL category because of high medical expenses they incur for undergoing treatment and added, under visionary leadership of PM Narendra Modi, steps now have been taken to relieve underprivileged and poor families from the pressure of mounting treatment costs.
“Under the scheme, beneficiaries would get benefits of cashless treatment in Government hospital for almost all the diseases. Ayushman Bharat scheme beneficiaries come under health insurance of worth Rs 5 lakh. The unique feature is that beneficiaries need to pay any premium for the insurance”.
Another beneficiary – Krishna Gopal Saha (49), a small time trader said, “As I and my wife are getting old and my son is dependent on my income – always I was worried about future. Recently, one of relatives fell ill and the family members faced huge difficulties in coughing up the fund for my relative’s treatment. They had to sell their property. However, insured under Ayushman Bharat, I am now a tension free person”.
Before signing off, Krishna Gopal Saha mentioned about an important issue – role of ASHA workers. He said, my family came to know about details of the scheme through an ASHA didi – Gita Kar. She explained the benefits and aspects of the scheme and addressed all of our concerns. So far, Gita Kar collected and submitted 19 applications for the scheme.
“With presence of large number of womenfolk – mothers and sisters – I am overwhelmed and confident that implementation of Ayushman Bharat will be successful”, Prof Solanki summed up the prevailing mood in his speech.
The Health department has made elaborate arrangements to extend help to underprivileged and poor as well as elder people in obtaining the ‘golden card’. While, ASHA workers are personally visiting every eligible persons’s residence. A group of youths – known as Ayushman Mitra – are always ready to help the beneficiaries and well equipped to any queries relating to the scheme. In every district hospitals, one Ayushman Mitra has been deputed.
Ayushman Mitra – Parimal Das and Purnima Sinha, narrated about their jobs and said, attending queries of people pertaining to the scheme, detailing procedure for enrollment and above all, providing the hassle free benefits to beneficiaries during treatment. “We are also responsible for running the software”, Parimal said.
