BJP MPs withdraw PIL over Ayushman Bharat scheme in Delhi

New Delhi, Feb 11 (PTI) Seven BJP MPs on Tuesday withdrew from the Delhi High Court their plea for the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).

A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora said the petitioners did not wish to press the plea.

The counsel appearing for the MPs said BJP won the Delhi assembly elections and the ruling government promised to implement the scheme in its first cabinet meeting.

"I am withdrawing the petition as the new dispensation in Delhi has promised to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the first cabinet meeting," said the counsel.

The petitioners -- Harsh Malhotra, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Praveen Khandelwal, Yogendra Chandolia, Manoj Tiwari, Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Bansuri Swaraj-- argued Delhi citizens were facing a serious issue of high out-of-pocket health and medical expenses and even resorted to borrowing or selling assets during a medical emergency.

The petitioners said Delhi was the only union territory where the healthcare scheme for the underprivileged was yet to be implemented which deprived them of an essential health coverage of Rs 5 lakh.

Earlier, the high court expressed shock over the Delhi government reportedly not accepting the financial aid through the Centre-funded health scheme when there was "no money" with it for its healthcare system.

It had said the central scheme was just an aid being given to a particular segment of citizens and steps must be taken to iron out the differences within the Delhi administration.

The petitioners argued the "clash of political ideologies must take a back seat" in the interest of welfare of the residents of Delhi and sought a direction to the Delhi government and its health department to implement the scheme.

"Of 36 states/UTs, 33 have implemented the scheme and at present the government of Odisha is actively considering the implementation of the scheme. However, the scheme has not been implemented in NCT of Delhi," they claimed.

The petitioners claimed former Delhi finance minister Manish Sisodia in his budget speech for FY 2020-2021, made a "categorical commitment" over the implementation of the scheme but it was "arbitrarily and unreasonably" rendered ineffective. PTI SKV AMK

Source: PTI