The BJP-led state government will introduce Ayushman Bharat — a centrally sponsored health insurance scheme — from June 1.
The existing Swasthya Sathi, Mamata Banerjee’s flagship health scheme, will continue till all beneficiaries are brought under the new scheme.
“Our government will introduce Ayushman Bharat from June 1. Beneficiaries of the Swasthya Sathi scheme will gradually be upgraded to the new scheme. Until all beneficiaries are registered under Ayushman Bharat, the existing scheme would continue,” said Agnimitra Paul, the state municipal affairs and urban development, minister, in the corridors of the state Assembly on Thursday.
According to sources, the Ayushman Bharat has certain income-based eligibility criteria.
“There is no criterion for those aged 70 years or more, and for those where the head of the family is a woman. But there are certain eligibility criteria for others. The criteria are based on the annual income of a person,” said a source.
However, Swasthya Sathi has no eligibility criteria. All families in the state could be covered under the scheme.
“It remains to be seen whether the BJP state government keeps any criteria while introducing Ayushman Bharat in Bengal. The state can include beneficiaries outside the eligibility criteria fixed by the Centre, but for this, the expenditure has to be borne by the state,” said a source.
Minister Paul didn’t clarify on this and said that the chief minister would take a call on the finer details.
She said the main difference between Swasthya Sathi and Ayushman Bharat was that beneficiaries would be able to access treatment in hospitals across the country.
CM visit
Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari will visit Diamond Harbour and hold a video conference with all police officers in the districts from there on Saturday.
Sources in the state administration said Suvendu’s first visit after becoming the chief minister to Diamond Harbour was significant as the area has been considered the fiefdom of Trinamool national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee.
“The chief minister will hold a meeting with the police administration of the state through a video conference from Diamond Harbour. This will send a message to the police. It was often alleged that the police played a partisan role in Diamond Harbour that helped the Trinamool No. 2 (Abhishek) win elections in big margins,” said an official.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Abhishek had won the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat by a huge margin of over 7 lakh votes. The BJP had alleged that Trinamool had looted votes with the help of district officials, mainly the police.
“The new government wants to ensure that people vote freely. It has often been alleged that people in this area have not been able to vote for the past 10 years. The chief minister wants to change the scenario, and the administration will face a litmus test in the Falta Assembly constituency, where the April 29 elections were countermanded because of alleged irregularities and fresh polls would be held on May 21,” said the official. Falta falls under the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency.