Urban Mirror Correspondent
New Delhi, September 24 : The Lok Gathbandhan Party (LGP) today said that the Ayushman Bharat- National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) being dubbed as “Modicare†is not an answer to universal healthcare in the country because it will cater to only secondary and tertiary requirements. The LGP said the scheme has not addressed to country’s primary healthcare system.
The spokesman of the party said here on Monday that NDA government has rushed through the launch of the scheme for political gains in forthcoming state assembly elections and 2019 Lok Sabha poll. The spokesman said basic infrastructural and service problems in rural areas is acute and the government has not done anything in this connection. The spokesman said the selection process of the beneficiaries belonging to BPL group is also flawed, leaving vast scope for corruption and irregularities. The spokesman said the NDA government has been making directionless efforts for healthcare without laying a strong foundation, especially in rural areas. The spokesman said insurance-based scheme for the poor and innocent villagers would only lead to bungling of government fund as has happened in similar private schemes in urban areas. The spokesman said with present form the Modicare plan is destined to fail as it is going to be another political stunt. The spokesman said thinking of healthcare without proper attention to primary requirements is useless.
Pointing out that there is vast scope of fraud and corruption, the spokesman said it would not help the poor people because of the role of private players, whose target is only business profitability with the collusion of private hospitals. The spokesman said primary health centres, community health centres in rural areas which are only service providers to the poor people lacked basic facilities thereby forcing the people to rush to urban areas even for treatment of small ailments. The spokesman said the NHPS could benefit the private hospitals and insurance companies but it cannot be substitute for proper public health care. The spokesman said there is complete lack of medicines, doctors, paramedical staff and basic medical facilities in rural areas for which there was no adequate provision in the Union Budget.
