New Delhi: Ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in February, the Delhi Government has announced the launch of Sanjeevani Yojana with an aim to provide free healthcare to Delhi’s elderly citizens aged 60 and above. The eligible individuals will be able to avail free of cost health services in both government and private hospitals.
According to Party leader and Delhi minister Saurabh Bhardwaj, the scheme will address the gaps in the central government’s Ayushman Bharat Yojana as it only covers people aged 70 and above and has a premium limit of only Rs. 5 lakh. Arvind Kejriwal while announcing the initiative revealed that there will be no upper limit restrictions to avail the benefits of the Sanjeevani scheme.
The registration for the scheme will start within 2-3 days and will be conducted door-to-door by the workers of the Aam Aadmi Party after which the beneficiaries will be provided with a card. The implementation of the scheme will begin after the elections.
- The Context
The announcement of the scheme comes after MPs from the BJP moved to the Delhi High Court seeking directions for the Delhi government to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme. On November 27, the High Court directed the government to clarify its stance on the implementation of the scheme. Following the high court’s orders, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi directed the health department to develop a mechanism to incorporate the benefits of Ayushman Bharat without withdrawing the benefits of the Delhi government’s free healthcare benefits for the people. Hence, the Sanjeevani Yojana was formulated.
