Countdown to Ayushman Bharat scheme: Gujarat expects seamless transition

Intended for tertiary services for BPL families, it gradually evolved to cover families above the poverty line who have an annual income below Rs 300,000 under the extended MA Vatsalya Scheme

In the first of a four-part series, VINAY UMARJI assesses the readiness of Ayushman Bharat in Gujarat, ahead of the September 25 launch

Despite a mere Rs 36,000 annual family income, Vechatji Thakor, 48, is undergoing treatment for an enlarged prostate and bladder stones at PSM Hospital in Kalol, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, without lying awake at night staring at the ceiling and fretting about the bill. 

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Ayushman Bharat health care scheme is just a slogan for the farm labourer for the moment, it is the state’s Mukhyamantri Amrutum (MA) health assurance scheme which is a comforting