Janardan Singh Sigriwal flags off a Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana Jagrugta Rath in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, Feb. 1: A medical insurance of Rs 30,000 would be available to every family living below poverty line (BPL) against a card worth Rs 30.

Janardan Singh Sigriwal today flagged off a Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana Jagrugta Rath from AN Sinha Institute in an attempt to make people aware about the benefits of the scheme.

“Jagrugta Rath is equipped with necessary information for families living below poverty line. There would also be information for the experts who would roam about to help the people. It is important that their doubts are cleared as well,” state labour resource minister said.

He also said the vehicle would visit all block headquarters in every district so that BPL families do not have to travel much to avail the benefits.

Principal secretary (labour) Vyasji said: “Under the scheme, health smart cards would be distributed among BPL families. This is a special initiative by the central and the Bihar governments.”

He said: “This project would cater to five members of every BPL family. The process of making the cards has been started at various places in all the districts and thousands of families have already got the card against Rs 30.”

He said: “The card provides a health coverage of Rs 30,000 for five members of a BPL family every year. The cardholder and his family just need to visit the hospitals, both government and private, in their district to get treatment. Even the cardholder can be admitted in the listed hospitals for treatment. Expense of medicines, one day prior to the admission in the hospital to one day after the discharge, would be covered by the scheme.” The coverage under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana is provided in association with Royal Sundaram Insurance Company. The minister and the principal secretary termed the scheme as a “hassle-free” health insurance scheme. The card owner would just need to carry the card to the network of hospitals and the expenses for the treatment would be taken care of and the amount would be deducted from the card.

Labour commissioner Masood Hasan said: “A number of studies have revealed that the vulnerability of the worker increases when they have to pay fully for their medical care without any support.”