Ayushman Bharat Received Rs 9,481 Cr in 4 Years, Not Rs 1,540: NHA

The NHA clarified on the RTI which showed only Rs 1,540 cr being disbursed to the Ayushman Bharat scheme in 4 years.

Nirmala Sitharaman (fourth from left) and Anurag Thakur (second from left) with President Ram Nath Kovind (centre). Image used for representational purpose.

(Photo Courtesy: PTI)

The National Health Authority (NHA) on Friday, 11 June, said that in the past four years, the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) health scheme had received Rs 9,481 crore from the finance ministry, out of which 8,542.30 crore has been utilised so far.

The clarification by NHA came after a Pune-based activist Prafful Sarda Claimed that the scheme had received only Rs 1,540 crore in the last four years, which is 7 percent of the total allocation of Rs 21,360 crore.

“This amount (Rs 1,540 crore) was released till June in the year 2021-22 only and not for the whole period of this scheme,” NHA told The Quint.

Ayushman Bharat PMJAY was launched in September 2018. It was announced that this scheme will provide yearly medical insurance of Rs 5 lakh to at least 10 crore marginalised families.

All government and impaneled hospitals in the country provide paperless and cashless treatment to the beneficiaries of the Ayushman Bharat scheme. In 2018, the National Health Insurance Scheme launched by the UPA government was also merged with this new scheme.