NEW DELHI
:
The new BJP government in Rajasthan has sought the union health ministry’s approval to integrate the previous administration’s Chiranjeevi health insurance scheme with the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat programme, two officials privy to the matter said.
The scheme, to be named Ayushman Bharat Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Health Insurance Scheme, is expected to retain the existing benefits of the state scheme, including a ₹25 lakh insurance cover in both private and government hospitals, the officials said.
The Chiranjeevi scheme, introduced by former chief minister Ashok Gehlot of the Congress party, offers higher coverage compared to Ayushman Bharat’s ₹5 lakh.
“The scheme will continue, and the amount of the package is also going to be same, there won’t be any deduction,” said a state government official.
Queries sent to the union health ministry and the chief minister’s office remained unanswered at the time of publication.
Gehlot had previously urged the Prime Minister to retain his flagship schemes regardless of the election outcome. He had raised concerns during the poll campaign that the BJP might discontinue the Chiranjeevi scheme.
Currently, over 14 million families are drawing benefits from the Chiranjeevi scheme.
The state government has directed districts to issue new health insurance cards by 26 January, aligning with national efforts to cover all targeted Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries before the Lok Sabha elections, Mint had earlier reported.
The state government official quoted above said some private hospitals had stopped accepting Chiranjeevi cards even before the election results were out. “The hospitals had already flagged that if the government changes, there are high chances that the BJP govt would discontinue the scheme, and hence they had already stopped,” added the official.
Since its launch in May 2021, the Chiranjeevi scheme has provided universal health coverage to all Rajasthani families. Its coverage was recently increased from ₹10 lakh to ₹25 lakh, with an additional ₹10 lakh for accident coverage, as per the Rajasthan Budget 2023-2024.
So far, more than 100 million families have at least one Ayushman card, with Uttar Pradesh leading in the number of beneficiaries at 46 million. Madhya Pradesh follows with 37 million, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh with 20 million each and Maharashtra with 19 million beneficiaries.