- BJP's win in Bengal brings the Ayushman Bharat health scheme to the state
- Bengal will join many states already providing this cost-shared insurance scheme
- BJP ends Trinamool's 15-year rule, pledges focus on safety, jobs, and healthcare
Following the BJP's historic win in West Bengal, the state earlier ruled by Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress is set to get the Centre's health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), which provides cashless cover of Rs 5 lakh to families per year. The scheme automatically covers all citizens who are over 70 years old.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the announcement on bringing the scheme to Bengal, finally, during his victory speech at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.
"A journey for the future of Bengal is beginning today, one where development, steadfast trust, and new hopes will march forward hand-in-hand. I assure every resident of Bengal that the BJP will work day and night for a better future for the state," PM Modi said.
"In Bengal, women will now find an environment of safety, and the youth will find employment. Migration will come to a halt. In the very first cabinet meeting, the Ayushman Bharat scheme will be given the green signal," he said.
Except for Bengal, 35 states and Union Territories provide the government health insurance scheme to citizens. Though a centrally-sponsored scheme, the cost is shared between the Centre and state governments. Odisha and Delhi last year implemented the scheme, which is extremely popular with citizens as the cost of medical treatment can seriously dent the savings of families.
Bengal, when it was under the Trinamool's rule, as well as Delhi, when it was under Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), had declined to take the Ayushman Bharat scheme saying they have health insurance programmes of their own.
The Centre had criticised them for playing politics at the cost of healthcare needs of citizens.
The BJP is ahead in over 200 seats in Bengal, well past the majority mark, ending the Trinamool's 15-year rule in the eastern state.
