Lunch with BS: Indu Bhushan on how he landed the top job at Ayushman Bharat

Bhushan tells Veena Mani and Nivedita Mookerji how he landed the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan — popularly Ayushman Bharat — assignment and how the results won’t be apparent in just two years 

Our guest is relatively new to the latest food scene in New Delhi, having been out of the country for some 20 years. But Indu Bhushan, the man at the centre of much action these days, not only decides the venue for lunch but also takes charge of the menu. His choice is Chew, a cosy pan-Asian place tucked in an easy to miss corner of Connaught Place. A nano-second lift ride takes us to the almost empty restaurant on the first floor where we settle down with coconut-basil mocktail blend and some hit numbers from the 70s and 80s. The guest, dressed semi-formally (in white shirt and a Gandhi jacket) joins us at 1 pm sharp, the appointed time for lunch. The CEO of Ayushman Bharat (now renamed Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan) tells us his new office in Janpath is just a short walk away and so he doesn’t have to bother about the time taken to travel. The next 100 minutes, we find him in a chatty mood, not ducking any question though requesting us not to write a few things that he believes are sensitive. 

The first thing that Indu (he likes being called by his first name) checks out at the restaurant is whether it’s turned into an all-vegetarian joint during Navaratri or serves regular non-vegetarian fare too. Chew, a café specialising in dishes from the Pacific region, offers an exclusive Navaratri range, but it more than compensates with a wide range of real pan-Asian dishes. He orders a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes while we discuss cuisines from across the globe. The final order contains dimsum spinach and water chestnut, sushi, Philadelphia roll, stir fried tofu, Thai green curry, jasmine rice and pan fried noodles.

The toughest part — ordering the food — out of the way, we get thicker into the conversation. Before we can ask anything, he wants to know more about the Indian version of the “#metoo” movement. It seems government officials are talking about it as much as anyone else. It is the topic of the moment and its hard to ignore, especially because a minister has been at the centre of the controversy. Without getting into the specifics, we talk about the implications of the movement.

The starters arrive and we dig in. The guest picks up the chopsticks without a thought while we keep to the fork. Chopsticks take us to his years in China, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Vietnam and the rest. We ask the guest about his journey to Ayushman Bharat. For the 1983 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officer, it all started with a call less than a year ago, followed by a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). It was quite a shift for someone who has had a career at the Asian Development Bank (ADB). His last overseas stint before joining the Modi government’s flagship programme was as ADB director general of the East Asia Department. He led ADB’s engagement with China, Taiwan, Mongolia and Korea. There’s been no looking back, though there have been days of frustration in his current job, he confides. “But never weeks of frustration,’’ he adds. How soon after he took this job did he meet the PM? “Maybe within a month.”

How’s the work at Ayushman Bharat? At that moment his phone rings. It’s the Ayushman Bharat signature ringtone on his mobile. Are there any plans to have a caller tune? Yes that’s on the to-do list. “We have already approached the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to make it free.” Doesn’t that show that the government may be banking on the health care scheme among some other flagships ahead of the 2019 elections? “Perhaps,” he replies. What about having a brand ambassador for Ayushman Bharat like in the case of Swachh Bharat? There are some such plans but he doesn’t want to give out any information on that as it’s work in progress. We keep trying for an answer from him by calling out names of film stars and celebrities from the sports world — Amitabh Bachchan to Akshay Kumar to Sachin Tendulkar. Our guest laughs and says, “We are reaching out to eminent people across fields...” 

By this time, the main course is here and we realise we have sort of ordered more than we can eat. But we are enjoying the conversation and clearly nobody’s in a hurry to leave. We learn through the lunch how serious the PM is about the scheme. Everyday at 5 pm, a report is submitted to him on the number of cases registered, e-cards issued and the amount claimed under Ayushman Bharat. The numbers are not bad for a scheme that was launched less than a month ago, on September 25. The number of beneficiaries is about to touch 100,000, but the numbers must soar much further before celebrations begin, he says.     

Elaborating on the challenges, Indu says, “There are no glitches, but I would have been happier if our greenfield states (such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh) did well.” By greenfield, he means the states that did not have any prior health care insurance/trust schemes, unlike those that have merged the state schemes with those of the Centre.   

As for progress, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has become a benchmark for measuring the ups and downs of Ayushman Bharat. “In GST, there were 100,000 traders and here it is 100,000 patients.” He suggests that we visit some of the greenfield states to assess the progress of the scheme.

We concentrate on the food and talk about vegetarian sushi that we are experimenting with. The guest mentions how one of his daughters turned vegetarian for a while and the kind of dishes that were available in South-East Asia. We  digress and talk about his two daughters — both doctors. Are they going to be a part of Ayushman Bharat? No, but the scheme is known even as far as Stanford University in the US, he points out. “My elder daughter, who is in Stanford, says that Ayushman Bharat is talked about there. Once her university got to know that I am the CEO of Ayushman Bharat, she became an instant celebrity.” The university invited him for a talk as well but he thinks all that can wait.

In fact, Ayushman Bharat has been the flavour of discussion even in his social circles, though there isn’t much of going out etc any more as he spends at least 12 hours a day at work and also travels extensively for it. “Whether it’s with my IAS batchmates or former ADB colleagues, Ayushman always comes up...” 

Back to food, we learn that the guest’s favourite cuisine is Korean but he regrets there aren’t many Korean restaurants in the city. “In my ADB job, it was pretty much streamlined, giving me enough time to play Bridge or watch a movie. Now, weekdays are ruled out for any outing.’’ 

Has he noticed any heartburn in the government circles as Ayushman Bharat is a much publicised programme and he himself has been in the limelight constantly? He wants to skip that question and we don’t press for an answer. But he’s surprised by the significant media interest in the programme. “I thought journalists in this country were not interested in social issues. I was wrong.”

We decide to have a quick dessert and to feel less sinful, we split an eggless banofie pie into three and order masala tea to go with it as we are almost wrapping up our conversation. Indu tells us the scheme is complex and “it will take time to evolve”. He adds that “we need to learn from various state governments” and that “it is like running 36 different schemes’’. He believes Ayushman Bharat’s real results won’t be seen in two years. In fact, it will take several more years though he’s on a two-year contract. He will love to stay back in India and continue with the work, he says. We don’t let the guest leave before asking him what he sees as the high point in this job. “Working directly with the PM,” he replies without a pause, and walks back to his office.