Federal Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said that the government will launch its 'Ayushman Bhava' campaign across the country on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday on 17 September.
The campaign will be launched by President Droupadi Murmu on 13 September but rolled out during the “Seva Pakhwada” (service fortnight) starting on 17 September [Modi’s birthday] and will continue until 2 October.
While talking to the media about the campaign, Mandaviya said: “This year on the occasion of Prime Minister Modi's birthday, we will take up the 'Ayushman Bhava' programme from 17 September.”
He added that the Prime Minister guaranteed free medical assistance worth INR500,000 ($6,000) to 600 million people and the programme is aimed to benefit the exploited and deprived population and women under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana. “So we decided to run the ‘Ayushman Bhava’ from 17 September,” he said.
Ayushman Bharat is the flagship of the federal government under which health cover of INR100,000 ($1,200) per family per year is given to citizens of India for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.
Talking about the details of the campaign, the minister said that the government will promote health target services and raise awareness among people to ensure optimum delivery of all health schemes to every intended beneficiary.
As part of the campaign, camps will be set up where 60,000 people will be given Ayushman Bharat cards.
Last year, the government launched a year-long programme to make the country free of tuberculosis on Modi's birthday. As part of the campaign, everyone was urged to adopt a patient suffering from tuberculosis and take care of him for one year. The programme was launched to accomplish Modi’s vision of a TB-free India by 2025.