NHA launches Aap Ke Dwar Ayushman’ Campaign in Bihar

The National Health Authority in collaboration with the Government of Bihar has launched ‘Aap Ke Dwar Ayushman’ campaign to drive awareness about Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) across Bihar and enable beneficiaries, especially those residing in the rural and remote areas, to avail cashless healthcare worth Rs five lakh per family per year.

The campaign was rolled out from 17 February and will continue till 3rd March.

The ‘Aap Ke Dwar Ayushman‘ initiative is focused on generating large-scale awareness about the scheme and its benefits, accelerating the Ayushman card generation, and increasing utilisation in the States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh which account for over 30 per cent of the eligible beneficiaries under the scheme.

Starting with Bihar where 1.09 crore families (or more than 5.56 crore citizens) are eligible for benefits under AB PM-JAY, various ground-level activities are being carried out across all the 38 districts of the State covering 534 blocks and 45,000 villages to generate large scale awareness of the scheme and its benefits. So far 26,04,782 families have been verified at the rate of 23.9 per cent.

Through the momentum build by conducting this state-wide campaign, Bihar aims to issue 20 lakh new Ayushman cards to the beneficiaries in the next two months.

Dr Ram Sewak Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority said, “The experience of implementing Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY so far has consistently demonstrated that there is a direct correlation between the possession of scheme’s cards and the hospital treatments sought by the beneficiaries. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh collectively account for over 30 per cent of the eligible population under PM-JAY. Therefore, to ensure that benefits of the scheme reach the poor, the intended beneficiaries, the Government of India is collaborating with the State Health Agencies of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to organise Aapke Dwar Ayushman campaign to conduct state-wide awareness and beneficiary verification drives. This campaign or Ayushman Bharat Pakhwara has been launched in Bihar. After the experience of these States, this outreach and communication strategy will be executed in the other States.”

Thousands of functionaries at State, district, block, and village levels will be carrying out this initiative. Over 6,500 Panchayati Raj Institution Executive Assistants (PREAs) will be engaged to conduct the fortnight-long special beneficiary awareness camps across all the 8,686 Gram Panchayats covering more than 45,000 villages spread in 38 districts of Bihar on all the campaign days at the Panchayat Bhawan of each village where citizens can go and get their e-cards generated for free. On routine days, the Ayushman cards are generated at the Common Service Center (CSC), also popularly known as Vasudha Kendra in the state at nominal charges of Rs 30/- per card.

There are a reported 11,960 functional CSCs in Bihar that engaged in PM-JAY activities among other designated works.

Door-to-door campaigning at Panchayat and village levels will also be carried out by Jivika Sahayaks and ASHA workers to identify, inform and educate PM-JAY beneficiaries about Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY scheme. In addition, Ayushman Bharat Counselling Desks (ABCD) are being set up at national, state and district level hospitals, by the National Health Authority to help beneficiaries for upward referral and follow-up care. In case of non-receipt of Ayushman card or difficulty in getting or denial of treatment of finding nearest empanelled hospital, beneficiaries can get assistance by calling on the Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY 24×7 dedicated toll-free helpline 14555.

Kaushal Kishore, CEO, Bihar Swasthya Suraksha Samiti, (State Health Agency) said, “The proposed initiative of ‘Aapke Dwar Ayushman’ is focused on improving awareness about the scheme, accelerating improvement in the e-card being issued, and improving utilisation of the scheme in Bihar. So far 23 per cent of the eligible families under AB PM-JAY scheme have their beneficiary cards.  More than one lakh beneficiaries have already received treatments worth Rs 167 crore. With the generation of Ayushman cards, frauds can be easily detected which are further shared with states for due diligence and action. AB-PM-JAY is all set to make a huge impact on improving the healthcare landscape in Bihar.”

The State Health Agency in Bihar is proactively working to maximise access to good medical facilities for the beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana by increasing hospital empanelment and ensuring the provision of safe, affordable, timely secondary and tertiary healthcare to beneficiaries through implementation of standard treatment guidelines on the delivery of quality care.