SAD accuses AAP govt of misleading Punjabis on health insurance scheme

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of misleading the people of Punjab by claiming it would provide free medical treatment of up to ₹10 lakh per year, whereas it had actually tied up medical insurance for only ₹1 lakh.

Addressing a press conference here, senior SAD leader NK Sharma said that the AAP government had no intention of implementing the scheme and was merely indulging in a publicity gimmick to befool Punjabis.

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Asserting that the scheme had already been launched five times, including during the Tarn Taran by-election, Mr Sharma said crores of rupees had been spent on advertising it without a single patient receiving any medical benefit.

Stating that this was not the first time that the government had misused health sector funds for publicity, the SAD leader said the government had earmarked ₹761 crore in its budget for the health sector but failed to provide medical cover to even five persons. He added that the government had also defaulted on paying its share of ₹200 crore under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, due to which the programme meant to provide medical treatment to 15 lakh people had been adversely affected.

Mr Sharma said if the government were sincere about providing medical insurance coverage of up to ₹10 lakh per person in the State, it would need to earmark a budget of ₹10,000 crore. “The government claims it will run the scheme by spending ₹1,200 crore. This is because medical insurance has been arranged for only ₹1 lakh per person, with the government committing to pay the remaining claims through State Health Mission funds. This effectively means Punjabis will get medical insurance coverage of just ₹1 lakh,” he added.

Asserting that the government intended to use the scheme to collect data for the forthcoming Assembly elections, Mr Sharma said that 12,000 existing youth clubs had been disbanded. “The government wants to create new clubs comprising its own workers to run the scheme, as was disclosed during its launch today,” he alleged.

Mr Sharma also said that all announcements made by the AAP government regarding the health sector had come to nothing. He stated that Mohalla Clinics—announced with much fanfare after repainting Suvida Kendras established by the previous SAD government—were facing an acute shortage of doctors. “Three hundred and twenty doctors who were selected a year ago have still not been appointed, and the government has earned the dubious distinction of offering private doctors ₹100 per patient to see patients at Mohalla Clinics,” he said.

The Akali leader further asserted that AAP had played a cruel joke on Punjabis by promising to open 18 new medical colleges but had failed to deliver on this front. He said that even the buildings of two proposed colleges at Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur, which had been ready for quite some time, had not been opened yet.

Referring to claims made by AAP leaders at today’s function that former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had done nothing for the health sector, Mr Sharma said, “I want to make it clear that Mr Parkash Singh Badal brought the Tata Memorial Hospital to Mohali and AIIMS to Bathinda, established a satellite centre of PGI at Sangrur, besides setting up eight nursing colleges and 1,933 free dispensaries in the health sector alone.”