BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh on Wednesday criticised the AAP government in Punjab for its ‘Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna’, questioning how the state plans to fund the scheme amid the state’s poor financial health and a heavy debt burden.
Chugh blamed the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government of misleading people with promises of cashless medical treatment, calling the healthcare scheme a “blatant lie”.
The AAP government had announced the ‘Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna’ on January 22, promising free cashless medical care of up to Rs 10 lakh for every family in Punjab.
According to the government, the universal health cover will apply to nearly 65 lakh families across the state. Calling the scheme a “big lie”, Chugh said AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had promised a ‘Sehat Kranti’ before coming to power, but the promise remained only rhetoric.
He said nearly four years of the Mann government have passed without any real steps towards a health revolution. “Now they are talking about Rs 10 lakh cashless treatment, but it will take at least a year to implement this scheme in the state,” he claimed.
Raising questions over funding for the scheme, Chugh asked how the government would bear the cost when it has failed to clear dearness allowance and arrears of its own employees. He said the state has allocated Rs 778 crore in the budget for the insurance scheme.
Chugh further claimed that of the promised Rs 10 lakh cover, insurance companies would provide only Rs 1 lakh per family, while the remaining Rs 9 lakh would be paid from state funds.
“The government, whose exchequer is empty, which raised a debt of Rs 1.25 lakh crore, taking the total outstanding debt to Rs 4.99 lakh crore, now claims to bear the cost of health cover,” he added.
Chugh also claimed that if even one per cent of the 65 lakh eligible families were to avail the scheme, the government would need at least Rs 6,500 crore to fund it.
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