Union home minister Amit Shah to launch Ayushman CAPF healthcare scheme on January 23

New Delhi, Jan 19: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to launch the Ayushman healthcare scheme for central paramilitary force personnel in Assam later this week, official sources said.

They said Shah will hand over the first Ayushman health cards to the chiefs, a sub-officer and a jawan of each of the central armed police forces (CAPFs) like the CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and SSB apart from the NSG and the Assam Rifles that function under the command of his ministry on January 23.

The CAPFs, with an estimated manpower of about 10 lakh personnel, are deployed for rendering a variety of internal security duties across the country, border guarding and VIP protection. "The Ayushman CAPF health scheme is expected to be launched by the home minister on January 23 in Guwahati.

A presentation on the scheme will be made and the minister may address the beneficiaries too during the event," a senior official involved in the process told reporters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), termed as the biggest government-sponsored healthcare scheme across the globe, in September, 2018. The scheme provides a cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to over 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families (about 53 crore beneficiaries).

AB PM-JAY also provides cashless and paperless access to services for the beneficiaries at the point of service.