Ayushman Bharat petition by BJP MPs is 'politically motivated': AAP govt tells Delhi HC

This is the response filed in an affidavit submitted to the Delhi high court by the capital's health and family welfare minister Saurabh Bharadwaj. Bharadwaj was responding to a petition filed by seven BJP MPs seeking the implementation of the central scheme in the capital.

In the affidavit, the AAP minister said the Delhi government had opposed the rollout of the Centre's PM-JAYs cheme because it would “downgrade” the health schemes currently in force in the capital.

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Politically motivated petition

The AAP minister argued that their flagship Delhi Arogya Kosh (DAK) scheme is far more robust and had a broader impact. The Delhi government has maintained that the PM-JAY scheme will benefit just 12-15 per cent of the city's population and limit its impact, while the DAK scheme would have a "broader and more far-reaching effect".

Further, in his response, Bharadwaj said the petition has been "ostensibly filed as a public interest litigation” but it is nothing but a “politically motivated petition” and it has been filed with an eye on the ensuing elections to the legislative assembly of Delhi.

The affidavit pointed out that the petitioners are political persons, who belong to the principal Opposition party in Delhi. They had tried to impose their wishes on Delhi, even though they were able to win only 10 per cent of the seats in the last election to the legislative assembly," the affidavit pointed out.

Superior Delhi schemes

Also, the Delhi minister added that the petition sings “unnecessary praises” of the central health insurance scheme but fails to mention the existing schemes in the capital. They have deliberately omitted mentioning the schemes in Delhi since it is far superior to the schemes implemented by the Centre.

It will be a “loss” for the capital’s residents if Delhi schemes are substituted by the central ones.

PM-JAY scheme is unsuitable for meeting the requirements of the people of Delhi, since it has been framed by the Central Government based on the 2011 Census data, said the minister.

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Old and archaic

Calling it "old and archaic", the minister added that any scheme based on outdated data cannot be thrust down the throat of any other government or for that matter people.

Opposing the PIL, the Delhi government said that despite neighbouring states adopting the PM-JAY scheme, data showed a substantial influx of patients from these places to Delhi for medical treatment as "the treatment being offered in the hospitals in Delhi is far superior to the treatment being given to the patients" in the neighbouring states under the central schemes".

The Delhi government has made its stand clear after the high court last month had asked AAP government and the Centre's ministry of health and family welfare to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by January 5 to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the national capital.

The court had said that its non-implementation, when 33 states and UTs have already implement the scheme, would not be justified.