Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Ramesh Kumar today inaugurated the pilot launch of “Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana“ (AB-PMJAY) which promises to cover poor and vulnerable families by providing coverage for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.The programme was organized by State Health Agency, Directorate of Family Welfare.Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Commissioner informed that that the ambitious AB-PMJAY aims to provide a portable coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family annually and a beneficiary covered under the scheme will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public/private empanelled hospitals across the country.“The scheme will be launched across the country on September 25 by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi”, the DC maintained.He said that the scheme is entitlement based, with the entitlement decided on the basis of deprivation criteria in the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) database.To ensure transparency, the Central Government has implemented this initiative through the use of technology/software, the DC said, adding that, the pilot test of the software to register patients, keep records and track transactions is going on in the district.
The DC further informed that in Jammu district, around 99 percent verification process for eligible beneficiary under AB-PMJAY scheme has been completed in which 35,736 urban households and 42,028 rural households have been identified. He said that after proper identification; a card will be issued to the beneficiary.The DC asked the Health department to conduct capacity building programmes for the officials and organize awareness camps at block level to aware the masses about the scheme.Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner also distributed smart cards among the eligible beneficiaries to avail annual health cover facility.Among others, Assistant Director, FW, MCH, Jammu, Dr. L. D. Bhagat, Medical Superintendent Govt Hospital Gandhi Nagar, Jammu, Dr. A. D. S, Manhas Chief Medical Officer Dr Sanjay Turki, Dy CMO, Dr. M. Y. Khan, resource persons and officers of health and concerned departments were present on the occasion.