Chandigarh, September 22:
In a major gift to the residents of the state, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Monday announced to begin the process for Registration of people under the ambitious Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna aimed at giving comprehensive healthcare to the people by offering cashless treatment worth Rs 10 lakh.
Interacting with the media persons here today the Chief Minister said that the registration for this ambitious scheme to provide Rs 10 lakh cashless treatment to the people will begin in two districts of Barnala and Tarn Taran from Tuesday (September 23). He said that the process for registration will be launched as a pilot project and will be completed in 10-12 days for which camps will be organized in around 128 places in each of these districts. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that this is a historic and first of its kind scheme launched for the welfare of the people in the state.
The Chief Minister said that all the people in these districts can apply for the Chief Minister’s Health Card and during the camps no one has to travel far from home to register for the card. He said that before the camps are organized, the entire area will be informed through public announcements to ensure everyone knows about the camps. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the applicants only need to bring their Aadhaar card, Voter ID, and a passport-size photo to the camp and no other documents will be required.
The Chief Minister said that within 10-12 days, the registration for the Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna will be completed for everyone in these districts. He said that based on the feedback, if any improvements are needed in the process, they will be duly incorporated. Subsequently, Bhagwant Singh Mann said that then the registration for this scheme will begin across Punjab and once it is completed throughout the state, it will be officially launched.
The Chief Minister said that every Punjabi will be able to benefit from Rs 10 lakhs of health insurance using the Chief Minister’s Health Card allowing everyone to access free, cashless treatment. He said that Government employees, ASHA workers, and Anganwadi workers will also be included in the scheme. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that every family will receive ₹10 lakhs of health insurance, there will be no limit on the number of family members, every citizen will receive the Chief Minister’s Health Card, enabling cashless treatment, treatment will be available in all government and empanelled private hospitals.
The Chief Minister said that over 2,000 health procedures and surgeries will be included in the scheme and Punjab is the first state in the country to offer health coverage of up to ₹10 lakhs. He envisioned that this historic initiative of Punjab will set an example for the entire nation to provide universal healthcare to all the residents of the state. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that like free power this facility will also be available to all the residents of the state adding that the promise of excellent healthcare made to the people is being fulfilled today.
Dwelling on another issue, the Chief Minister said that 881 Aam Aadmi Clinics have been opened in the last three years to impart quality health services to people and the number of these clinics will soon cross 1,000. He said that the availability of medicines in government hospitals has increased from 30% to nearly 100% and the number of people benefiting from primary government health services has increased from 34 lakh to 1.08 crore. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that it is a matter of immense pride and satisfaction that Punjab will be the first state in the country to offer free Universal Health Insurance up to Rs 10 lakhs.
The Chief Minister said that the Union government is habitual of eating its own words everytime after the scheme launched by them fails miserably. Citing an example, he said that GST was raised with a big bang but now has been rolled back with the same speed adding that if GST was beneficial at that time why it has been taken back now. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that before taking any action on GST, the centre must give back the legitimate share of the states, pending with them, back to the states.
Urging the BJP leaders to refrain from politicizing the issue of floods, the Chief Minister dared state BJP Chief Sunil Jakhar to do his homework before issuing any statement. He said that these rejected leaders spit venom against him just to appease their political bosses adding that the statements issued by these leaders are in fact dictated from their high command. However, Bhagwant Singh Mann said that these leaders should better check their facts before issuing any statement on the sensitive issues.
The Chief Minister said that a Medical College will be constructed at Sangrur to impart quality health services to the people for which the state government will identify some other land. Slamming the SGPC for denying land for construction of the college, he bemoaned that the SGPC was merely a puppet in the hand of Badal family and all its actions are dictated by them. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that SGPC would have certainly given the land if the Badal family had desired to construct a college.
Reiterating that no ration card in the state will be deleted, the Chief Minister said that they have sought six month’s time from the Union government in wake of the recent floods to verify these cards. He assailed the rationale being used to delete ration cards, which includes ownership of four-wheelers, government jobs, small landholdings, and income. Bhagwant Singh Mann pointed out the absurdity of penalizing entire families when just one member may fulfill one of these criteria.
