The Punjab Aam Aadmi Party's Government’s announcement of providing health insurance cover of ₹10 lakh to the people of Punjab is a bundle of lies aimed at misleading Punjabis, because the Punjab Government is paying only ₹1 lakh as insurance premium to the insurance company.
When the government is paying a premium of just ₹1 lakh to the company, how can the company provide insurance cover of ₹10 lakh? This was stated by senior Punjab BJP leader, former minister and former state president Manoranjan Kalia. Punjab BJP Media Head Vineet Joshi was also present on the occasion.
Kalia said that the Punjab Government claims that under this scheme, to cover 65 lakh families for a population of 3 crore, a premium of ₹1 lakh will be paid by the Punjab Government to United India Insurance Company, while the remaining financial burden has been placed on the State Health Agency—meaning it will ultimately fall on the state exchequer.
He questioned how the government would bear such a huge expenditure from the state treasury when it does not even have sufficient funds to pay old-age and widow pensions.Kalia said that today Punjab is burdened with a debt of over ₹4 lakh crore, and the per capita debt has reached ₹1,23,274. The state’s share from GST has declined by 40.35 percent.
In addition, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has outstanding dues of more than ₹10,500 crore, making it difficult to understand how the government will bear such a huge cost of people’s medical treatment from the state exchequer.
Manoranjan Kalia said that this scheme of the “AAP” government is not healthcare, but merely a bundle of hollow promises and false claims. He warned that the people of Punjab have now understood the truth, and the government will have to account for this deception.