Budget 2024: Ayushman Bharat Scheme benefit extended to ASHA, Anganwadi workers

Ayushman Bharat Scheme also known as Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Scheme, which is one of the largest healthcare schemes provided by the Centre, seeks to benefit over 50 crore people and approximately 10 crore underprivileged families without any restrictions on family size or age.

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who presented the Interim Budget 2024 on Thursday, said that the healthcare under the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme will be extended to all ASHA, Anganwadi workers and helpers. However, there was no budget allocation in this regard.

Earlier while announcing the 2023-2024 budget, the FM increased the share for Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana to Rs 7,200 crore and allocated Rs 646 crore for the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission.

Further, the Finance Minister said,” All programs for maternity and child healthcare will be combined into a single, all-inclusive program. The Indian government is enhancing the target for the Lakhpati Didi scheme to Rs 3 crore from Rs 2 crore."

Following this, MoS Health, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar said that the extension will provide a lot of benefits to ASHA and Anganwadi workers. She continued, "This is a good step taken by the government". She further said, "We had demanded vaccination for prevention of cervical cancer. U-WIN portal also strengthened through this budget".

What is Ayushman Bharat Scheme?

Ayushman Bharat Scheme also known as Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Scheme is one of the largest healthcare schemes provided by the Centre. In September 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched this scheme to provide coverage to over 50 crore Indian individuals and approximately 10 crore underprivileged families, without any restrictions on family size or age. The scheme assists these households in accessing the best healthcare treatments, with insurance coverage for tertiary and secondary hospitalisation costs up to Rs 5 lakh per family annually.

Since its launch, the scheme has effectively facilitated about 6.2 crore hospital admissions, amounting to over Rs 79,157 crore. The PM's Ayushman Bharat Yojana Scheme is completely paperless and provides cashless hospitalisations at public and private network hospitals. Additionally, it covers almost 1,400 expensive procedures such as knee replacements, skull surgery and other such procedures. Patients can also follow up on their therapies to guarantee a thorough recovery.

Who are ASHA and Anganwadi workers?ASHAs, or Accredited Social Health advocates, are female community health activists, who have received training and are chosen from inside the village. They are equipped with a drug kit and information to provide first-contact healthcare to individuals.

Anganwadis are a particular kind of rural daycare facility. To tackle child hunger and malnutrition, the Indian government launched it in 1975 as a component of the Integrated Child Development Services program. At a village, an Anganwadi centre often offers basic medical treatment. It is included in the public health care system in India. The centres can serve as depots for contraceptives, over-the-counter medications, and oral rehydration salts.

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