MOHALI, Jan 22: AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday rolled out the state government’s ambitious ‘Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna’ — which will provide free cashless medical treatment of up to Rs 10 lakh to every family in the state.
The universal healthcare cover will be provided to all 65 lakh families in the state. Any person who is a resident of Punjab and has an Aadhaar card and a voter card will be eligible to avail the benefits of this scheme.
Chief Minister Mann said 850 government and private hospitals have already been empanelled under the scheme, and more hospitals will be added in the coming days.
He said that more than 2,300 treatment packages have been included under the scheme, compared to 1,600 earlier.
“Specialised treatments such as Orthopaedics, General Medicine, Cardiology, Neurology, Nephrology, Urology, Oncology, and several others are being offered,” he said.
Mann added that the scheme also covers cardiac procedures, cancer treatment, kidney dialysis and transplants, brain and spine surgeries, maternity and newborn care, accident and emergency services, knee and hip replacement surgeries, cataract surgery, and many other critical treatments.
Along with hospital expenses, diagnostic services have also been included in the scheme, he stated.
“Any citizen can now get free treatment at any government or private hospital in Punjab or Chandigarh,” he said, adding that hospitals will be paid the treatment cost within 15 days after treatment.
Mann said that under this scheme, health cards will be issued to all 65 lakh families, covering nearly three crore citizens of Punjab.
Explaining the scope of the scheme, the chief minister said government employees, pensioners, and every other citizen would be eligible for health cards.
“These health cards can be obtained from facilitation centres and Common Service Centres, or through online registration using an Aadhaar card or a voter card,” he said, adding that youth club members would also assist citizens by making cards door to door.
He noted that the state government has already paid the advance premium to the insurance company to ensure smooth implementation.
AAP national convener Kejriwal, while addressing a gathering here after launching the scheme, said, “Today is a historic occasion not only for Punjab but for the whole country.”
In the past 75 years, several governments came, but they did not take care of people despite making tall claims, said Kejriwal.
Lauding the Bhagwant Mann government for its works, Kejriwal said the period of the past four years, which has been going on, will be written in golden letters in Punjab’s history.
Speaking about the scheme, Kejriwal said, “As soon as a patient is admitted to a hospital, everything will be free. They will not be asked anything, only to bring their health card. There are about 65 lakh families in Punjab, including rich and poor, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and people of all religions and castes. No one has been left out.”
Kejriwal said around 1,000 ‘mohalla’ clinics have been set up in the past four years, and 500 more ‘mohalla’ clinics will come up in the state. “Besides, 2,500 ‘pind clinics’ will be set up in each village,” he said.
He added that 1,100 doctors and specialists have been hired in the state.
“Now there is no shortage of doctors in government hospitals,” he claimed.
On this occasion, Kejriwal and Mann handed over Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna cards to some of the eligible beneficiaries.
AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Punjab ministers Aman Arora and Harpal Singh Cheema were also present.
Targeting the previous governments, Kejriwal said that this new Rs 10 lakh scheme will be opposed by rival leaders. He said that in 75 years, merely 400 primary health centres came up in Punjab.
He claimed the AAP government in the past four years did 10 times more than what the previous government had done for the state in 75 years.
Kejriwal told Congress, BJP, and Akali Dal leaders that if something good is happening, they should praise it.
Meanwhile, Mann said the scheme has been launched for the welfare of every section of society, inspired by the teachings of Guru Sahiban and that for the first time, no income limit has been fixed for any health scheme in the state.
“With the launch of this scheme today, Punjab has set a new benchmark for the entire country,” the chief minister said, underlining that Punjab has now become the first state to provide free healthcare, free education, free electricity, and free bus travel for women. (PTI)
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