Implementation of Ayushman Bharat riddled with flaws, poor patients denied benefits of flagship scheme, alleges Puducherry Congress chief Vaithilingam

PCC chief V. Vaithilingam raised issues of faulty implementation of Ayushman Bharat scheme, non-utilisation of allocated funds, lack of data, non-issuance of cards, and two dengue deaths. He also blamed inefficiency of admin for monsoon preparedness and cleanliness. He urged govt to improve functioning and appealed to Karnataka to release Cauvery water for farmers.

Puducherry PCC president and MP V. Vaithlingam on Thursday said the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat medical insurance scheme in the Union Territory was riddled with flaws and deficiencies that served to defeat the purpose of the flagship scheme.

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Vaithilingam said the worst-affected by the faulty implementation of the scheme were the poor.

While he had repeatedly raised the issues concerning the scheme, including the non-utilisation of allocated funds, the government was yet to respond in any effective way to remedy the implementation of the scheme, the PCC chief said.

Apart from lack of clear data on the number of people enrolled in the scheme, the government was yet to issue Ayushman insurance cards to beneficiaries or notify the hospitals where the benefit can be availed of, he said. In the prevailing situation, patients in outlying exclaves, were denied insurance cover for treatment at hospitals of neighbouring States, he said.

The PCC chief also blamed the inefficiency of the administration to scale up monsoon preparedness and cleanliness operations — aggravated by the delay in awarding tender for garbage disposal — coupled with the inadequacies in community health sector for the two dengue deaths that occurred in Puducherry.

Mr. Vaithilingam felt the fact that the health portfolio was with the Chief Minister was preventing submission of critical feedback on the health sector.

“I am flagging these concerns more in the hope for an improvement in the functioning of the government than to highlight failures”, Mr. Vaithilingam said.