CM Trivendra Singh Rawat launches Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana, a universal health coverage assisting 23 lakh households of the state

 

 

Dehradun, December 26: With an aim to cover Uttarakhand under a health insurance cover, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat launched the Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana (AAUY) on the occasion of 94th birth anniversary of the former Prime Minister Narendra Modi marking the state first to offer a universal health coverage. Under the scheme each household in the state will be able to avail medical treatment of upto Rs 5 lakhs annually.

 

The scheme will benefit twenty-three lakh households and will cover 150 critical diseases. A total of 99 government and 66 private hospitals have been selected under the scheme and air ambulance will also be operational from 26th of January.

 

During his address to the masses after launching the scheme, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said, “It is highly appropriate that the scheme is being named after the former PM Vajpayee and is being launched on his birthday as he is adored as the creator of Uttarakhand. Providing better health care facilities in a state like Uttarakhand is a major challenge. Inspired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the state government decided to launch Ayushman Bharat Yojana benefiting the extended scheme to every family of the state.”

 

 

“The objective of the scheme is that no one should be left out for dearth of money as far as the best treatment is concerned. Under the scheme, a cashless facility is available and in view of practical problems, it is being run on a trust mode instead of involving insurance company in it. It is observed that many people are forced to sell their land or jewellery to avail good treatment but following the launch of the scheme, this would be a thing of the past.’’ he added further.

 

According to the CM the scheme would encourage many private institutes to open hospitals in the mountainous areas. Rawat declared that the soon the children and the elderly would also be provided benefit of free OPD.

 

A mobile application and a website of the AAYU scheme was also launched on the occasion. Memoranda of Understanding ( MoU) with many private hospitals were also inked in the presence of the CM. The state BJP president Ajay Bhatt also congratulated the state government for the launch of the scheme. He also narrated many memoirs of the former PM Vajpayee on the occasion.

 

The programme was attended among others by Tehri MP, Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, cabinet minister Prakash Pant, minister of state for higher education Dhan Singh Rawat, MLAs- Vinod Chamoli, Harbans Kapur, Ganesh Joshi, Umesh Sharma Kau, Khajan Das, Mahendra Bhatt, Shahdev Singh Pundeer, Munni Devi Shah, Pranav Singh Champion-, chairman of state health authority D K Kotia, chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh and director general ( DG) of police Anil Kumar Raturi.