Bihar beneficiary receives 10th crore Ayushman Card

By Sahil Pandey
New Delhi [India], March 25 : Twenty-five-year-old Irfan Ali, a resident of Gopalganj district in Bihar, has received the 10th crore Ayushman card on the National Health Authority's IT system, to seek free healthcare services under Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
This landmark achievement is the result of Aapke Dwar Ayushman Campaign launched on 1 February to spread awareness among AB PM-JAY beneficiaries, in order to empower them to avail free medical benefits upto Rs 5 lakhs per family per year.
With this achievement along with 4.68 crore beneficiaries verified using State's IT system, 14.70 crore individuals have been verified under the scheme.
Recently NHA has signed MoU with CSC SPV and UTI-ITSL to issue free PVC Ayushman Card to the eligible beneficiaries.
Currently, the initiative is being implemented in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, J&K, Punjab, Uttarakhand among other States and UTs.
Dr. Ram Sewak Sharma, CEO, Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) said: "It is a great achievement for us that we have issued that 10th crore Ayushmancard to a beneficiary in Gopalganj district in Bihar, on NHA's IT system. I am glad to see that everyday lakhs of new beneficiaries are added under Aapke Dwar Ayushman initiative. Encouraged from progress we have set a target to take the number of identified beneficiaries to atleast 20 crs in next financial year. For this, strong IEC activities are being performed in the States to motivate beneficiaries. This will be a true tribute to the vision of Ayushman Bharat."
"The idea for creating Ayushman cards is to ease the delivery of services for our beneficiaries. The beneficiary should not be subjected to any difficulty while visiting a medical facility for treatment. Ayushmancard enables identity verification thereby empowering the user to claim her right to free healthcare services. I believe Ayushman card will act as a great tool in the hand of the beneficiary," he added.
In 2021, as many as 2,14,51,428 beneficiary verification records had been created till March 23.
Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is the flagship health protection scheme of the Government of India that provides a cover of up to Rs 5 lakhs per family per year, for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to over 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families (about 53 crore beneficiaries).