AAP govt misused Ayushman Bharat funds, alleges Bajwa

Chandigarh, February 7

The Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly — Partap Singh Bajwa — on Friday accused the state government of “misusing” over Rs 500 crore meant for the Centre’s flagship health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.

The senior Congress leader alleged that it had resulted in non-payment of dues to private hospitals for treating beneficiaries under the central programme.

In a statement, Bajwa said the state’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had also failed to comply with the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had sought details of the expenses incurred on advertising and purchase of new vehicles.

“There are fair chances that the AAP government misused the funds. Instead of clearing dues of over Rs 500 crore to private hospitals registered under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, the government mis-utilised the funds, perhaps on advertisements, purchasing new vehicles and renovation of houses of ministers and MLAs,” Bajwa alleged.

He claimed that due to the non-release of funds, private hospitals too had suspended treatment of patients covered under the plan.

Launched with the vision of providing a universal health coverage, a health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year is provided under it for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.