NEW DELHI: Ahead of the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections, AAP supremo and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday announced the ‘Sanjivni Yojna,’ a scheme that will provide free treatment for people above 60 years of age, to be launched if AAP retains power in the national capital.
Also read: Ayushman Bharat impractical, can’t provide free healthcare to poor: AAP
Kejriwal said registration for the scheme will begin within two-three days. AAP volunteers would go door to door for registration of the eligible elderly for the scheme, he said at an event at the party headquarters here.
After the elections, the AAP government will implement the scheme, Kejriwal added.
The announcement comes after the Delhi high court’s criticism of the AAP government last week, where it questioned why the centrally sponsored Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) had not been implemented in Delhi.
The Ayushman Bharat scheme offers healthcare coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh, aimed at protecting individuals from high costs associated with secondary and tertiary hospital care. The scheme covers a vast network of empanelled public and private hospitals.
The high court bench noted that Delhi was not separate from the rest of the country and pointed out that the scheme had already been rolled out in 33 states and Union Territories.
The HC’s observation followed the AAP’s dismissal of the scheme as “impractical.”
Delhi health minister Saurabh Bhardwaj had said that Ayushman Bharat was insufficient compared to the AAP government’s model of providing free medical care to the poor.
He explained that the Ayushman Bharat scheme required underprivileged patients to pay for any treatment exceeding Rs 5 lakh, even in government hospitals.
Bhardwaj said that Delhi government hospitals offer unlimited free treatment, ensuring no patient faces financial barriers, with all services—from tests to medicines—provided at no cost.
He also pointed out that 50% of patients from BJP-ruled states were being admitted to Delhi’s government hospitals, suggesting that the central scheme was ineffective in meeting the needs of the poor.
(With inputs from agencies)
