Political rivalry shouldn't scuttle Ayushman Bharat. The biggest losers will be the deserving patients.
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Patients wait during a doctors' strike at Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, on January 14, 2019.
Synopsis
States that are staying away from the universal health scheme can’t fund their own. People will be deprived of better facilities and healthcare portability and the states will lose out on valuable investment and infrastructure.
The central government has been reaching out to states for implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY). But West Bengal, Delhi, Odisha, and Telangana — all governed by opposition parties — have ignored the Centre’s moves. According to media reports, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh also withdrew from the universal-healthcare scheme immediately after the Congress government took over in those states. However, PMJAY CEO Indu