Delhi govt formally rolls out Ayushman Bharat

Nineteen people — 11 women and eight men — became the first residents in Delhi to receive Ayushman Bharat cards as the Centre's flagship health care scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), was finally rolled out in the Capital on Thursday.

- Ridhima Gupta

NEW DELHI:

The cards were distributed at Vigyan Bhawan following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Delhi government and the Union ministry of health and family welfare. The event marked the official implementation of the scheme in the Capital.

The rollout comes just days after a similar MoU was signed to implement the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) in Delhi on April 5.

To be sure, AB-PMJAY functions as a component of the broader PM-ABHIM framework, which aims to strengthen public health infrastructure nationwide.

"Health has always been a top priority for the Union government. An amount of ₹1,749 crore has been approved for Delhi to establish 1,139 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AAMs), upgrade 11 integrated public health laboratories, and set up nine critical care blocks," said Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta at the event.

She added that the AAMs "will be far better than the mohalla clinics constructed earlier [by the previous government] on roadsides, with no real medical infrastructure."