New Delhi, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare today launched the revamped Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) and the Umbrella schemes of Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) and Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant (HMDG) on National Health Authority (NHA)’s IT platform in the presence of Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare.
The Union Health Minister was delighted to inform everyone present thatthis was a solid step towards digitalization of healthcare services: “It was one of my dream initiatives and I have been waiting to see the launch of these schemes on NHA’s IT platform. This will enable seamless delivery of healthcare services to eligible beneficiaries under these schemes by making whole process paperless.”
He said that in his 28 years of public service, he had always encountered marginalised people in need of treatment. The delay of cash on account of the High Out of Pocket Expenditure often deferred the treatment which proved fatal in critical cases like those involving cancer.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan observed that he personally knows many people who have not been able to avail the entitlement benefits despite presence of well-intended government schemes. Due to lack of timely intervention through these schemes, delayed response and hurdle in these cases, the poor and needy people were not able to avail the benefits of the health schemes on time. Dr. Harsh Vardhan noted that these bureaucratic hassles stood in the principles of Antyodaya espoused by Shri Deendayal Upadhyay.
He lauded the visionary leadership of Prime Minister PM Shri Narendra Modi for using technology for welfare delivery to citizens envisaged under Digital India: “Just like the Technological interventions in opening bank accounts, Public Financial Management System (PFMS), subsidies through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), Ayushman Bharat scheme for paperless treatment of patients, today’s initiative of convergence of CGHS, RAN and HMDG with NHA platform is also designed to with the vision of making the healthcare services available transparently and swiftly to the needy citizens.” He acknowledged the contributions of Shri Indu Bhushan, Former CEO, NHA whose work and recommendation laid the foundation for today’s development.
