‘Cheating the poor’: Congress slams Centre over PMJAY data discrepancies
Citing a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) presented in the Parliament on Monday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Modi-led government is the real face of “Quit India”
The Congress on Thursday slammed the Centre claiming the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has cheated the poor through its schemes pointing to the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
Citing a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) presented in the Parliament on Monday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Modi-led government is the real face of “Quit India”.
“This is Modi government’s corruption – the real face of “Quit India”!! CAG has exposed the big fraud in Modi ji’s much-publicised Ayushman Bharat. CAG has exposed only some aspects of this mega-scam,” Kharge wrote on Twitter.
The report reveals irregularities such as 750,000 beneficiaries of the PMJAY registered under a single mobile number. More than 139,000 beneficiaries are associated with the mobile number 8888888888, while over 96,000 beneficiaries are connected to 9000000000.
Calling it the tip of the iceberg, the Congress chief said, “The CAG has found that - Lakhs of beneficiaries are linked with a single mobile number. Crores have been paid to the deceased beneficiaries. There are 43,000 families among the beneficiaries whose member numbers range from 11 to 201. Fraud, fraud, scam, corruption of the Modi government bankrupted the patients!”
He added, “The Modi government, which talks about the welfare of the poor, is on top in cheating the poor!”
The CAG report also noted several other discrepancies in the patient’s database, including invalid names, wrong dates of birth, duplicate PMJAY IDs, and unrealistic family sizes. From Rs.0.12 lakh in Chandigarh to Rs.22.44 crore in Tamil Nadu, the money taken by the beneficiaries varies substantially.
The AB-PMJAY was launched in 2018 aiming to provide health cover of Rs.5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care that include hospitalisation to the poor and needy section of the population, improving health care quality and affordability for the vulnerable sections of the society.
