New Delhi, Sept.13 (NSS): Union Minister Kishan Reddy today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was helping the old aged people through his welfare schemes and added that the latest decision of the Modi government to provide free health insurance cover of up to ₹5 lakhs for all those above the age of 70 years was also a part of the Modi’s welfare program.
He said Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) scheme had been updated to benefit the elderly people. “The cabinet has decided to provide medical insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh to all senior citizens above 70 years. The decision was taken by the Central government. There is no doubt that the decision was taken towards giving due priority to the welfare of the elderly in the overall development of the country.
Under the current Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PMJAY) scheme, there are 12 crore eligible households. As many as 45.83 crore beneficiaries of these families are benefiting from the scheme. In Telangana too, nearly 30 lakh families, out of which nearly 1.15 crore people are beneficiaries of the scheme. The beneficiaries received medical services worth Rs 3,626 crore for 17.2 lakh treatments in Telangana as part of the PMJAY scheme.
Reddy said with the latest changes, the number of beneficiaries would increase further and added that an additional top-up cover of Rs 5 lakh per annum would be provided to the senior citizens above 70 years of age in families already covered under Ayushman. He said all the eligible beneficiaries would be provided with a unique identity card as part of the scheme and added that the Central government would spend Rs 3,437 crore in the next two years for this purpose.
“With the expansion of the scope of the scheme, some six crore beneficiaries (4.5 crore families) above 70 years and above will be benefited by the scheme. By making changes to the scheme, as many as 2.72 crore beneficiaries (1.96 crore families) are eligible for additional benefits. About 10 lakh people from Telangana will be benefited,” he added. He claimed that the scheme was instilling confidence in the senior citizens and added that there was a feeling among the family members that Modi’s scheme would support the elders and the elderly of their families financially and mentally.
