Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has distributed Ayushman Health Cards/e-Cards to all BPL/eligible families;
(b) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise including Tripura and Bihar; and
(c) if not, the reasons therefor and the time by which the cards are likely to be distributed to all the eligible beneficiaries under the scheme?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
(DR. HARSH VARDHAN)
(a) to (c): A statement is laid on the Table of the House
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 83 FOR 7TH FEBRUARY, 2020
(a) to (c) The Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is an entitlement-based scheme and no registration or enrolment of entitled beneficiaries, identified as per Socio-Economic Caste Census database, is required for availing the benefits under the scheme. However, in order to create awareness and facilitate availing of benefits, after verifying the identity of beneficiaries under the scheme, paper-based e-cards have been issued to the beneficiaries.
The identification of beneficiaries is a continuous process and the responsibility of issuing AB-PMJAY e-cards lies with the States/UTs. As on 03.02.2020, over 12.04 crore beneficiaries have been verified. This also includes 4.68 crore scheme cards made by States using their own IT systems. The State/UT-wise details of beneficiary verification are at Annexure.
Also, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed with Common Service Center (CSC) e-Governance Services India Limited for utilizing their network of CSCs to verify AB-PMJAY beneficiaries’ identity under the scheme. The CSCs are operated by village level entrepreneurs (VLE) who verify the identity of beneficiaries and issue e-cards.
Besides, beneficiary identification process is undertaken at all the empanelled hospitals including private service providers through Pradhan Mantri Arogya Mitras (PMAMs).
Further, Open Beneficiary Identification System policy has been launched whereby services of different public or private entities can be deployed in addition to the network of CSC VLEs and PMAM to facilitate the beneficiary identification process. States/UTs have also been advised to issue e-cards to entitled beneficiaries in a mission mode.