NEW DELHI: AAP govt in Delhi has opposed the rollout of Centre’s Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY scheme in the city, arguing that its flagship Delhi Arogya Kosh (DAK) scheme is a “far more robust program” with a broader impact.
In a reply filed in Delhi High Court in response to a PIL filed by all the seven Delhi BJP MPs seeking the implementation of the Centre’s scheme, the elected AAP govt said that implementing it will amount to “downgrading the schemes already in place in Delhi.”
The stand has come after the high court last month asked AAP govt and the Centre’s ministry of health and family welfare to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by Jan 5 to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the national capital. The court noted that its non-implementation, when 33 states and UTs have already implemented the scheme, would not be justified.
However, Delhi govt has maintained that the PM-JAY scheme would benefit only about 12-15% of the city’s population, limiting its impact. In contrast, the DAK scheme offered by it has a “broader and more far-reaching effect”.
It said Delhi Arogya Kosh was introduced in a transparent manner and provides a more robust policy solution in providing medical treatment free of cost to the citizens of Delhi at any of the empanelled private hospitals in the capital.
Claiming that it provides a “superior healthcare policy and top-tier government hospital infrastructure to its citizens,” govt in its reply highlighted that over 30% of patients getting treated at major govt hospitals are from neighbouring states “governed by the political party to which the petitioners belong.”
Opposing the PIL, govt said that despite the neighbouring states having adopted the PM-JAY scheme, data shows a substantial influx of patients from these places to Delhi for medical treatment as “the treatment being offered in the hospitals in Delhi is far superior to the treatment being given to the patients under the aforesaid scheme.”
Delhi govt has urged the high court to dismiss the petition, alleging it is “politically motivated” and filed by the principal opposition party in Delhi, which has been trying to “impose their wishes on Delhi, even though it was able to win only 10% of the seats in the last election to the assembly.”
Govt submitted that the “DAK scheme has been introduced keeping in view the larger public interest and providing every citizen with the right to healthcare” and maintained that it has exclusive power, jurisdiction, and responsibility to frame laws and policies relating to areas of public health, sanitation, hospitals, etc.
The high court earlier made it clear that the central scheme should be implemented in its entirety to ensure that the residents of Delhi are not deprived of the funds and all the facilities. It also noted that the MoU can be signed irrespective of the model code of conduct, if any, as the scheme is for the benefit of the citizens of Delhi.
