Unwilling to implement much-hyped Central Government’s health scheme - Ayushman Bharat, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday wrote a letter to Union Health Minister Harshvardhan and said the Delhi Government’s own health scheme is 10 times better and has bigger scope for the people in the national Capital.

Kejriwal wrote to the Minister in response to the Union Government’s letter to the Delhi Government to implement Ayushman Bharat.

Interestingly, rebutting Vardhan, Kejriwal presented the details of the coverage, inclusion and exclusion points in tabular format comparing the Delhi Government’s scheme with the Ayushman Bharat.

“I am happy to tell you that Ayushman Bharat has already been implemented in Delhi a long time back. The Delhi Government’s health scheme is 10 ten times bigger and comprehensive than Ayushman Bharat,” Kejriwal said.

In his two-page letter in Hindi, Kejriwal said despite Ayushman Bharat being in place in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, lakhs of patients from these two States come to Delhi every day to get medical treatment.

Kejriwal wrote, “Haryana and Uttar Pardesh are adjoining States. Both the States have implemented Ayushman Bharat, however, hardly any residents of Delhi go to the two States to get treatment, which indicates that Delhi’s own health scheme is functioning well”.

Kejriwal mentioned that under the Ayushman Bharat, there is less than 10 per cent of Delhi population as beneficiaries, while in the AAP Government’s scheme, every person in the national Capital is beneficiary, which means Delhi’s two crore population is covered.

“Those whose income is more than Rs 10,000 does not come under Ayushman Bharat, which means those earning less than minimum wages (notified by the Delhi Government) is out of this scheme,” Kejriwal said.

The CM said that in Ayushman Bharat, beneficiary will get treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh, but under the AAP dispensation’s scheme, there is no such limit and hence, the Government bears all expenses, even if it is Rs 30 lakh.