New Delhi |HLive
On the 49th Foundation Day of Dr.Rajendra Prasad Opthalmic Sciences, AIIMS Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley emphasize on the need for expanding public and private healthcare to small towns and rural areas across India.
Jaitely said now with the new schemes for the Below Powerty Line people will strengthen the health sector facilities. And the dialysis treatment would be easily accessible across the country.
“We have now reached a stage in the country where healthcare has to enter the next stage. In terms of public and private medical institutions, we appear to be going at a reasonable pace he added.
Most of the centres are in the urban areas. But in the next few years, the expanse will spread. Even though the concentration in metros and cities is reasonable, but smaller towns around us, the healthcare in terms of public and private is still quite weak,” said Jaitley.
He said two initiatives regarding healthcare were taken this year.
“We will plan a health scheme in which insurance cover for a family will be upto Rs 1 lakh per hospital treatment. This applies to 1/3rd of the bottom layer of Indian society. So all people below the poverty line category and some above it will be covered in the scheme,” he said.
“I have passed an act of Parliament that this money will now be acquired by the government and used for health care of senior citizens of the BPL category,” he said.
He said the senior citizens of the “bottom rung of 1/3rd of the Indian society” receive an additional cover of Rs 40,000 a year.
