New Delhi: The newly-formed Delhi Cabinet in its first meeting on Thursday approved the implementation of Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in the national capital and also decided to present 14 pending CAG reports in the first session of the assembly.
Addressing her first press conference as Delhi Chief Minister, Rekha Gupta said that the previous AAP government did not allow the health scheme in the city, preventing the people from availing its benefits.
“We discussed and passed two major agendas. The first was the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, which the previous government had blocked. Prime Minister Modi introduced this scheme for the entire nation, but due to the Aam Aadmi Party government, it could not be implemented in the capital. With a ₹5 lakh top-up from the Delhi government, the scheme will now be implemented,” said the chief minister while addressing the media.
Ayushman Bharat, the Government of India’s flagship scheme, was launched as per the National Health Policy 2017 to advance Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Designed to align with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the initiative upholds the commitment to “leave no one behind.”
The previous AAP government, led by former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, had opposed the implementation of the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme in Delhi, saying that it would “amount to downgrading the healthcare initiatives already in place.”
She added that the second agenda of the cabinet meeting was the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports, as 14 of them were pending and were not tabled by the previous government in the Delhi legislative assembly.
Rekha Gupta said that these reports will be tabled in the first session of the House.
“We will fulfil each of our commitments one by one and get them passed,” said the newly sworn-in Delhi chief minister.
The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi had resisted the tabling of reports, many of which were said to be critical of its functioning, with portions already made public by the BJP.
These reports addressed key issues, including the Delhi excise policy, the renovation of the chief minister’s official bungalow, vehicular pollution, public health, and the performance of government departments, all of which were key issues during the election campaign.
