Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology join hands to facilitate access of Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission to the last mile

Shri J P Nadda implores the dream of Digital India is getting big leap with Ayushman Bharat. CSCs would be a big milestone in the access of universal healthcare in our country

National Health Agency (NHA), the apex body for the implementation of Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM), and Common Service Centres (CSC) scheme under the Digital India Programme, have  joined hands to provide information and eligibility validation services to  beneficiaries, especially in remote areas. As the benefits under AB-NHPM are based on entitlement  and not on enrolment, over 3 lakh CSCs spread across the rural India can become the key point of information for potential beneficiaries and help in  validating their entitlement.

Shri JP Nadda, Hon’ble Union Health Minister said “today, the dream of Digital India is getting big leap with Ayushman Bharat. In Ayushman Bharat, 55 Cr people would get benefitted with this revolutionary healthcare scheme. The 3 lakh CSCs in 2.5 lakh Panchayat would be a great help in the implementation of the scheme. ” He added, “I am confident that CSCs would be a big milestone in the access of universal healthcare in our country.”

Hon’ Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said that, “Today, I am very happy that CSC VLEs are going to be the soldiers of healthcare-Ayushman Bharat in India. The identity and registrations of beneficiaries would be done through CSCs. I would like to congratulate Shri J.P. Nadda that his ministry has chosen CSCs for the implementation of the largest healthcare scheme of the world.”

AB-NHPM targets approximately 10.74 crore poor, deprived families and has identified occupational category of urban workers’ families as per the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data, for both rural and urban India. CSC will be provided access to Beneficiary Identification System (BIS), which helps in confirming application from ‘entitled’ beneficiaries using SECC and RSBY databases. Validation of entitled beneficiary through BIS will ensure timely information upto the last mile, facilitating benefits under Ayushman Bharat. The BIS has already been designed and pilot testing is underway across various States.

The MoU was signed between Dr. Indu Bhushan, CEO, National Health Agency (NHA) and Dr. Dinesh Tyagi, CEO, CSC-SPV.

Dr. Indu Bhushan, CEO, National Health Agency (NHA), said that this integration will not only create more accessibility and transparency in the beneficiary validation process, but will also spread awareness among the targeted beneficiaries. The network of CSCs is the cornerstone of Digital India and they will provide support to the flagship mission for building a healthy India.