Delhi HC refuses to entertain plea seeking implementation of Ayushman Bharat scheme in Delhi

The Delhi High Court has refused to entertain a plea seeking direction to the AAP government for implementation of the Ayushman Bharat healthcare scheme in the national capital.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anup J Bhambhani junked the plea, saying it was not inclined to interfere in policy matters.

The high court was hearing a plea by economist Abhijit Mishra seeking directions to the Delhi government to implement Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana-Ayushman Bharat scheme.

In his plea, the petitioner had said that AAP government had neither issued any notification nor made any effort to implement the scheme.

“The Government of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi has neither issued any notification nor has made any efforts to implementation of Ayushman Bharat- National Health Protection Mission in Delhi. Also, the government of NCT of Delhi has not formulated any health insurance and welfare schemes equivalent to the Ayushman Bharat- National Health Protection Mission for the citizens domiciled in Delhi,” the plea said.

It also contended that Delhi government has not signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre for implementation of the scheme as on March 31, 2019.

Billed as the world’s largest government healthcare programme, Ayushman Bharat scheme will be funded with 60 per cent contribution from the Centre and remaining from the states.

The scheme targets poor, deprived rural families and identified occupational category of urban workers’ families, 8.03 crore in rural and 2.33 crore in urban areas, as per the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data. It will cover around 50 crore people and there is no cap on family size and age in the scheme, ensuring that nobody is left out.

Over 8,735 hospitals, both public and private, have been empanelled for the scheme, and as many as 31 states and Union territories have signed MoUs with the Centre to implement the programme. Telangana, Odisha, Delhi, Kerala and Punjab are among the states that have not opted for the scheme.