PTI
Mohali
AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday rolled out the state government’s ambitious ‘Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna’ – which will provide free cashless medical treatment of up to Rs 10 lakh to every family in the state.
The universal healthcare cover will be provided to all 65 lakh families in the state. Any person who is a resident of Punjab and has an Aadhaar card and a voter card will be eligible to avail the benefits of this scheme.
Speaking about the scheme, Kejriwal said, “As soon as a patient is admitted to a hospital, everything will be free. They will not be asked anything, only to bring their health card. There are about 65 lakh families in Punjab, including rich and poor, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and people of all religions and castes. No one has been left out.”
Kejriwal said around 1,000 ‘mohalla’ clinics have been set up in the past four years, and 500 more ‘mohalla’ clinics will come up in the state. “Besides, 2,500 ‘pind clinics’ will be set up in each village,” he said.
Chief Minister Mann said 850 government and private hospitals have already been empanelled under the scheme, and more hospitals will be added in the coming days.
He said that more than 2,300 treatment packages have been included under the scheme, compared to 1,600 earlier.
“Specialised treatments such as Orthopaedics, General Medicine, Cardiology, Neurology, Nephrology, Urology, Oncology, and several others are being offered,” he said.
Mann added that the scheme also covers cardiac procedures, cancer treatment, kidney dialysis and transplants, brain and spine surgeries, maternity and newborn care, accident and emergency services, knee and hip replacement surgeries, cataract surgery, and many other critical treatments.
Along with hospital expenses, diagnostic services have also been included in the scheme, he stated.
“Any citizen can now get free treatment at any government or private hospital in Punjab or Chandigarh,” he said, adding that hospitals will be paid the treatment cost within 15 days after treatment.
Mann said that under this scheme, health cards will be issued to all 65 lakh families, covering nearly three crore citizens of Punjab.
Explaining the scope of the scheme, the chief minister said government employees, pensioners, and every other citizen would be eligible for health cards.
“These health cards can be obtained from facilitation centres and Common Service Centres, or through online registration using an Aadhaar card or a voter card,” he said, adding that youth club members would also assist citizens by making cards door to door.
