On Centre's directive, PGIMER re-starts treating patients from Punjab under Ayushman Bharat scheme

The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research here on Friday re-started treating patients from Punjab under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana on a directive from the Centre.The treatment facility in the institute was stopped after the state government had allegedly failed to clear dues of more than Rs 15 crore under the insurance scheme.

The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research here on Friday re-started treating patients from Punjab under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana on a directive from the Centre.

The treatment facility in the institute was stopped after the state government had allegedly failed to clear dues of more than Rs 15 crore under the insurance scheme. The Centre's Ayushman Bharat scheme provides cashless treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh to a family per year whose cost of implementation is shared by the state government. The Punjab government has also assured PGIMER to clear the pending dues shortly. PGIMER's Director Prof Vivek Lal said though the Punjab government has still not cleared the pending dues, they have again started treating patients under the Ayushman scheme after a directive from the Centre while keeping the interests of the patients in mind. ''We had sent repeated requests to the Punjab government that their dues are not settled, but despite written reminders, we did not get any response after which we were forced to temporarily suspend the facility,'' Prof Lal told the media. Before taking the decision, the institute brought the matter to the notice of the national and state health authorities on April 1, May 13, and June 7. ''Later the matter was even brought to the attention of senior officers of the Punjab government,'' PGIMER said in a statement. PGIMER has restarted the benefits of the Ayushman Bharat scheme for beneficiaries from Punjab with immediate effect from Friday, Kumar Gaurav Dhawan, Deputy Director, Administration and Official Spokesperson, PGIMER, said. The institute has taken this decision so that the patients should not suffer, Dhawan said, the statement said. Communication has also been received from the Secretary Health, Government of Punjab, stating that in the next few days all pending dues will be cleared, Dhawan said.

On average, around 1,400 patients from Punjab avail treatment every month under the scheme, sources said. Opposition parties including Congress had also hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government for not clearing the pending dues.