The Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Prabhat Tara Maidan, Ranchi in Jharkhand on Sunday. The launch was held simultaneously in some states of India through live telecast.
In Sikkim, the scheme was launched in alliance with Mukhya Mantri Jeevan Raksha Kosh (MMJRK) at Chintan Bhawan in Gangtok on Sunday.
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The programme had the Governor Ganga Prasad as the chief guest and the Chief Minister Pawan Chamling was present as the guest of honour.
It is informed that the PM-JAY in alliance with MMJRK Sikkim will provide protection to the deprived rural families and identified occupational categories of urban workers’ families as per the latest socio- economic caste census data.
Under this scheme, around 40,000 poor and vulnerable families are entitled as per SECC in Sikkim. The scheme provides a benefit cover of Rs five lakhs per family per year for secondary and most of the tertiary care procedures.
This scheme will provide cashless and paperless access to health care services in public and private empanelled hospitals. The benefit will be portable across the country.
In Sikkim, the scheme would be implemented by the Health Care, Human Services and Family Welfare Department on a trust mode with implementation support agency.
Further, a state health agency and core operational team has been constituted.
It is informed that four district hospitals and STNM of Sikkim have been empanelled under this scheme. Help Desk Coordinators and District Nodal Officers have been identified and trained for the public hospitals.
In his address, the Governor expressed his happiness on the launch of PM-JAY and MMJRK. He said that the joint alliance of both the schemes would be a new milestone in the health sector.
He further added that the scheme will work towards the benefit of the underprivileged and marginalized sections of the society and urged the doctors and officers present to implement the scheme with full accountability and dedication.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister called for intelligent inputs and constructive concepts from the health professionals for the further development of the health sector in the State.
He asked the doctors to conduct more awareness programmes on communicable diseases, like TB, STDs, MDR etc in the PHCs and PHSC levels. He also asked them to spread awareness regarding the carcinogenic elements present in pesticides, chemical fertilizers, etc and urged the people to opt for organic lifestyle.