Ayushman Bharat at Eight: Modi highlights 60 cr beneficiaries, 500 cr Arogya Mandir visits
New Delhi, Sep 23 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday marked eight years of Ayushman Bharat, highlighting the scheme's reach to more than 60 crore beneficiaries and saying its expansion had brought affordable healthcare and financial protection against medical expenses to millions of Indians.
In a post on social media platform X, Modi said Ayushman Bharat was launched eight years ago with the vision that "every Indian should have access to top-quality and affordable healthcare". "Today, more than 60 crore beneficiaries have access to Rs. 5 lakh annual health cover, making it the largest healthcare scheme in the world," he said. Modi said the scheme had enabled "record savings on medical expenses", benefiting poor and middle-class families by reducing the financial burden of hospitalisation and treatment.
The Prime Minister also pointed to the expansion of primary healthcare through Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, saying healthcare was increasingly being brought closer to people's homes. "And healthcare is moving closer to every doorstep," he said. According to Modi, Ayushman Arogya Mandirs have so far recorded more than 500 crore visits, which he said had strengthened primary healthcare delivery at the grassroots.
"My best wishes to all Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries," Modi said. Launched in 2018, Ayushman Bharat is the Centre's flagship healthcare initiative combining financial protection for hospitalisation with efforts to strengthen primary healthcare. Its insurance component, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), provides eligible beneficiaries with health cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care. The broader Ayushman Bharat framework also includes Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, designed to provide comprehensive primary healthcare services closer to communities and strengthen preventive and promotive healthcare at the grassroots.
The government has presented Ayushman Bharat as a major measure to reduce out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure and improve access to treatment, particularly for economically vulnerable sections. Its expansion over the past eight years has made the programme a central pillar of the Centre's healthcare policy.
Marking the anniversary, Modi underlined both aspects of the initiative-financial protection for families facing major medical expenses and the expansion of primary healthcare infrastructure closer to people's homes.
UNI SKA AAB
