57 lakh families in J'khand to be brought under Ayushman

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das Wednesday said that altogether 57 lakh families of the state, which is 85 per cent of state's population, will get absolutely free digitized health insurance under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana.

The central scheme would be launched in the state by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from here on September 23 and the insurance cover would be Rs five lakh each person, Das said.

The chief minister said that the state has already enrolled 200 hospitals where beneficiary families would get treatment free of cost.

He promised that the 15 per cent population who would be left out of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana in the first phase would be provided health insurance in the second phase of the scheme.

Das said that Jharkhand is at the top among states in terms of decrease of infant mortality rate, which was announced by Union Health Minister J P Nadda on Tuesday and the state needed to work to reduce maternal mortality rate.

Referring to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, he called upon the people to maintain complete cleanliness in the state. It will reduce the health budget of the Centre as well as the state government.

He was speaking at a meeting of a panchayat body as part of a fortnight-long cleanliness drive at Hesla in Ramgarh district, which has been declared as the first open defecation free district in the state.

He said each and every person in the state should use toilets to maintain cleanliness, which would save money spent in the treatment of ailments related to the absence of it.