Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) has reformed the entire healthcare system of the country. It had served more than 2.2 crore people in the last three years and empowered millions of citizens with their Right to Health, said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday while inaugurating Aarogya Manthan 3.0 to mark the third anniversary of the scheme.

The programme, launched on September 23, 2018 from Ranchi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is aimed at achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Its theme was ‘Service and Excellence’.

Aarogya Manthan 3.0, a four-day hybrid (physical and virtual) event, commenced by observing ‘Ayushman Bharat Diwas’.

The Minister noted that Health and development were interlinked. “Leveraging digital technology in the healthcare sector, India aims to set national goals of digitising the healthcare landscape to make delivery of services smooth, robust, quick and efficient. In this regard, the National Digital Health Mission will prove to be a game changer. Public government partnership is the reason for the success of any government program. Ayushman Mitra is one such initiative,’’he pointed out.

Interaction with beneficiaries

On the occasion, Mr. Mandaviya virtually interacted with AB PM-JAY beneficiaries from Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Assam. He also released the third edition of the National Health Authority’s (NHA) Annual Report 2020-2021 along with the Lessons Learnt Booklet.

While presenting the three-year journey of AB PM-JAY, Dr. R.S. Sharma, CEO, NHA, said the scheme was taking one step each day to reach closer to the goal of UHC.

Since the inception of the scheme, more than 2 crore treatments worth ₹26,400 crore have been authorised through a network of over 24,000 empanelled hospitals across the country. In the last three years, more than 16.50 crore beneficiaries have been verified and provided with Ayushman Cards, with female beneficiaries amounting to approximately 50% of this number, he noted.

“As of 23rd September 2021, over 2.6 lakh hospital admissions worth ₹ 586 crore have been authorised leveraging the pan-India portability feature of the AB PM-JAY scheme. The innovative e-Rupy platform can be used to leverage the PMJAY further,’’ he added.