By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 3 Feb: When the Atal Ayushman Health Scheme was announced by the then Trivendra Singh Rawat Government, it was stated that all the permanent residents of Uttarakhand would be covered under the scheme. However, the Uttarakhand State Health Authority has made the system very difficult for those who are permanent residents of Uttarakhand but do not have the ration cards to get their Ayushman cards. This was, however, never acknowledged publicly by the government. However, there are people who are not even permanent residents of the state but still have managed to get cards. It is in the wake of this, that the State Government has now openly made the ration card issued in the state mandatory for Ayushman cards.
The Uttarakhand State Health Authority has implemented a new verification system to curb fraud in the Ayushman scheme. Under the new guidelines, only individuals whose ration cards are visible on the Food Department’s online portal will be eligible to avail benefits under the scheme. It may be reminded here that a large number of permanent residents from the state have long given up their ration cards as they were not utilising these to buy ration and, after the introduction of Aadhaar cards, the ration card does not remain a mandatory proof of residence. These people have now to apply afresh for ration cards if they wish to avail Atal Ayushman Card benefits, which allows the card holders free treatment of up to Rs 5 lakhs per annum in empanelled hospitals.
Various activists related to the health sector have criticised this move, calling it regressive as the scheme had been announced for all the permanent residents. They also called it ironic that the government has given in to the bureaucratic pressures and it could not find any other method or mode to verify permanent residence of the Uttarakhand residents apart from the ration card.
On the other hand, the officials claim that the move comes in response to a large-scale cancellation of ration cards by the Food Department. Many individuals whose ration cards were revoked had already obtained Ayushman cards using those ration cards and continued to receive healthcare benefits. To prevent unauthorised access to the scheme, the State Health Authority has introduced a strict verification process.
As per the Ayushman Yojana guidelines in Uttarakhand, a valid ration card is mandatory for obtaining an Ayushman card. However, thousands of beneficiaries whose ration cards have been cancelled are still using their Ayushman cards for free medical treatment. In an effort to curb this malpractice, the Health Authority has begun verifying Ayushman cardholders against the Food Department’s online records. If a ration card is not found in the system, the corresponding Ayushman card is being cancelled.
The Atal Ayushman Yojana was launched in Uttarakhand on 25 December 2018 and has since facilitated the issue of approximately 54 lakh Ayushman cards. So far, around 12.5 lakh people have availed free healthcare services under the scheme, with the government spending nearly Rs 2,300 crore on treatment expenses.
According to the state’s food scheme, ration cards can only be issued to families with an annual income of less than Rs 5 lakh. However, several individuals obtained ration cards using fraudulent documents. In the financial year 2023-24, the Food Department cancelled around one lakh such ration cards through a verification campaign. With their names removed from the official ration card portal, these individuals were still benefiting from the Ayushman scheme.
To address this issue, the State Health Authority has now made online verification of ration cards a prerequisite for continued access to Ayushman benefits. Those whose ration cards are not found in the system are having their Ayushman cards revoked.
