Question : EXPANSION OF RSBY

(a)the measures taken to include rickshaw pullers, auto and taxi drivers, MGNREGA workers, railway coolies and hawkers within the ambit of the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY);

(b)the reasons for not increasing the budget allocation substantially to the RSBY scheme when the number of target beneficiaries were increased;

(c)whether the Government plans to expand RSBY to cover out-of-pocket expenses of the economically weaker section;

(d)if so, the details thereof;

(e)whether the Government plans to expand the said scheme to cover more number of economically weaker and vulnerable sections who do not qualify as BPL; and

(f)if so, the details of the measures taken in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR STEEL, MINES, LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI VISHNU DEO SAI)

(a) to (f): The ‘Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana’ was launched on 1st October, 2007 to provide smart card based cashless health insurance cover of Rs. 30,000/- per annum to BPL families (a unit of five) in the unorganized sector. The scheme became operational from 01.04.2008. During the course of implementation, apart from BPL families, RSBY coverage has been extended to various other categories of unorganised workers viz. Building & Other Construction Workers, licensed Railway porters, Street Vendors, MGNREGA workers (who have worked for more than fifteen days during preceding financial year), Beedi workers, Domestic workers, Sanitation Workers, Mine Workers, Rickshaw pullers, Rag pickers and Auto/Taxi drivers. It is the endeavour the Government to extend RSBY to all unorganized workers in phased manner and to improve the facilities available therein.

With expansion of RSBY coverage, the budget allocation for the scheme has increased over the years and the budget figures since the inception of the scheme upto 2014-15 are as under:

	Rs. In crore Year	Budget	Revise	Final	Estimate	Estimate	Estimate 2007-08	5.00	5.00	5.00 2008-09	251.00	251.00	251.00 2009-10	350.00	350.00	350.00 2010-11	350.00	548.00	548.00 2011-12	313.42	984.30	984.30 2012-13	1568.56	1177.60	1177.60 2013-14	1265	847.00	891.92 2014-15	1429.30	-	-