New Delhi

A day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ruled out implementing Centre's Ayushman Bharat scheme in the state, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan in a letter asked the Delhi CM to be part of Centre's flagship programme for the larger good of Delhi. 

Advertisment

"I invite you to work together with us for the larger good of people of Delhi and be a part of Ayushman Bharat," Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan reportedly said in a letter to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Delhi CM on Friday in his response to Union health minister's request to implement the Centre's flagship Ayushman Bharat programme said that Delhi government's health scheme is "ten times bigger and comprehensive" than the Centre's flagship Ayushman Bharat programme.  

Kejriwal said if the AAP government's health scheme is closed and the Ayushman Bharat is implemented in Delhi, it will be a loss for the citizens of the national capital.

Advertisment

The AAP chief's comments come a week after Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said that the AAP dispensation would not implement Ayushman Bharat scheme in the city as it seeks to provide equitable treatment to all residents.

Jain had also said if the Centre's Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is so good, why people from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are "forced" to seek treatment in government hospitals in Delhi.

His comments came days after Harsh Vardhan wrote to the chief ministers of Delhi, Odisha, Telangana and West Bengal, urging them to join the Centre's flagship health insurance scheme.

Advertisment

In his two-page letter in Hindi to Harsh Vardhan, Kejriwal said despite Ayushman Bharat being in place in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, lakhs of patients from these two states come to Delhi every day to get medical treatment.

Hardly any citizen of Delhi goes to Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to get treatment, which indicates that Delhi's health scheme is functioning well, Kejriwal said.