New Delhi, India

Ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections in February next year, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal announced on Wednesday (Dec 18) that all people above 60 years of age will receive free treatment at all government and private hospitals as a part of ‘Sanjeevani Yojana’ if AAP retains power in the national capital. 

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The former chief minister said that the registration process for the scheme will begin in the next two to three days during an event at the party headquarters. He also said that people don’t have to go anywhere to get registered for the scheme, as AAP workers will go door to door to register eligible people.

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Kejriwal also said that there will be no upper limit on the cost of the treatment for the elderly registered under this scheme. The scheme will be implemented by the AAP government after the elections.

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Last week, the Delhi High Court questioned the AAP government as to why the centrally sponsored Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) had not been implemented in Delhi, while it has already been implemented in the rest of the states and union territories.

The Ayushman Bharat scheme offers healthcare benefits to individuals with a coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh to protect them from the high cost of treatment in secondary and tertiary hospitals. The scheme covers both public and private hospitals that are empanelled.

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However, Delhi health minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the scheme was not sufficient when compared to the AAP government’s free healthcare model for the poor, as it required the underprivileged to pay for treatments that exceeded the limit of Rs 5 lakh.

Bhardwaj also suggested that the central scheme was not meeting the needs of the underprivileged and claimed that half of the patients from BJP-ruled states were being treated in Delhi’s government hospitals.

(With inputs from agencies)