April 14 is the birthday of B R Ambedkar; April 30 to be observed as Ayushman Bharat Diwas
Prime minister Narendra Modi will kick off the Ayushman Bharat health programme on April 14 in Bijapur when he inaugurates the first health and wellness centre. Subsequently, April 30 will be observed across the country as Ayushman Bharat Diwas.
With an eye on reclaiming BJP’s traction with Dalits in the backdrop of the agitations over alleged dilution of the SC/ST atrocities Act, the NDA government is planning a series of events on April 14 which is the birthday of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar. Launch of Ayushman Bharat is one of the many planned events.
Announced in the Union Budget this year, Ayushman Bharat comprises a preventive component – 1,53,000 health and wellness centres across the country – and the National Health Protection Mission. NHPM was approved by the Union cabinet last month. Under the mission, an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh will be given to to 10.74 crore families.
For the purpose of verification and updation of SECC data, health ministry has tied up with the ministries of rural development and panchayati raj.
Families will be eligible for the scheme based on deprivation and occupational criteria as per Socio Economic and Caste Census(SECC) data. The proposed target population is “families that belong to any of the 7 deprivation criteria, automatically included families as per SECC database for rural areas and, defined occupational criteria for urban areas.”
For the purpose of verification and updation of SECC data, health ministry has tied up with the ministries of rural development and panchayati raj.
On April 30 which will be designated as Ayushman Bharat Diwas, camps will be organised for this purpose. The Union health ministry will kick off an elaborate IEC (information, education, communication) campaign with advertisements aimed at generating awareness about the scheme. This would also ensure that if at a later stage health workers have to go door to door for the purposes of beneficiary verification, people would not only cooperate with them but be eager to do so.
