PM-JAY: Big Reliefs By PM Modi For Senior Citizens On Dhanteras? Rs 12,850 Crore Healthcare Projects In Offing

On the occasion of Dhanteras, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to launch multiple projects worth Rs 12,850 crore related to the health sector including Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY). The announcement is likely to be made at around 12:30 PM on 29 October at All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi. Development in PM-JAY is expected to be a key beneficiary for senior citizens.

In its official statement, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said, as a major addition to the flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), the Prime Minister will launch the expansion of health coverage to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above. This will help provide health coverage to all senior citizens regardless of their income.

What is Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY)?

Ayushman Bharat aims to undertake path-breaking interventions to holistically address the healthcare system (covering prevention, promotion and ambulatory care) at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Notably, PM-JAY is the world's largest health insurance/ assurance scheme fully financed by the government.

The scheme offers a cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization across public and private empanelled hospitals in India.

On Tuesday, PM Modi will launch Phase II of India's First All India Institute of Ayurveda. It includes a Panchakarma hospital, an Ayurvedic pharmacy for drug manufacturing, a sports medicine unit, a central library, an IT and start-ups incubation centre and a 500-seat auditorium among others.

He will also inaugurate three medical colleges at Mandsaur, Neemuch and Seoni in Madhya Pradesh. Further, he will inaugurate facility and service extensions at various AIIMS in Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, Kalyani in West Bengal, Patna in Bihar, Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Guwahati in Assam and in New Delhi, which will also include a Jan Aushadhi Kendra. Prime Minister will also inaugurate a Super Speciality Block in Government Medical College at Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh and a Critical Care Block in Bargarh, Odisha, as per the statement.

Further, PM Modi will lay the foundation of five Nursing Colleges in Shivpuri, Ratlam, Khandwa, Rajgarh and Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh; 21 Critical Care Blocks at Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Manipur, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan under Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), and several facilities and service extensions at AIIMS in New Delhi and in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh.

For pregnant women and infants, Modi will launch the U-WIN portal that will be aimed for fully digitalizing the vaccination process.

It will ensure timely administration of life-saving vaccines to pregnant women and children (from birth to 16 years) against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases. Further, Prime Minister will also launch a portal for allied and healthcare professionals and institutes. It will act as a centralised database of existing healthcare professionals and institutes, the statement said.

Moreover, to give boost to Make in India initiative in the healthcare sector, on October 29, PM Modi to inaugurate five projects under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for medical devices and bulk drugs at Vapi in Gujarat, Hyderabad in Telangana, Bengaluru in Karnataka, Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh. These units will manufacture high-end medical devices, such as body implants and critical care equipment, along with important bulk drugs.