New Delhi | The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved health coverage to all persons aged 70 years and above under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana irrespective of their income, benefiting around six crore senior citizens, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
The Rs 5 lakh free health insurance cover would benefit senior citizens of around 4.5 crore families. Eligible beneficiaries would be issued a new distinct card under the scheme, the government said.
"Senior citizens of the age 70 years and above belonging to families already covered under AB PM-JAY will get an additional top-up cover up to Rs 5 lakh per year for themselves (which they do not have to share with the other members of the family who are below the age of 70 years).
"All other senior citizens of the age 70 years and above will get a cover up to Rs 5 lakh per year on a family basis," an official statement said.
It clarified that senior citizens of 70 years and above who are under private health insurance policies or Employees' State Insurance scheme will be eligible to avail benefits under the the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).
However, those already availing benefits of other public health insurance schemes such as the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) and Ayushman Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) may either choose their existing scheme or opt for AB PM-JAY, the statement said.
According to the government, AB PM-JAY is the world's largest publicly funded health assurance scheme which provides health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family annually for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to 55 crore individuals corresponding to 12.34 crore families.
All members of the eligible families irrespective of age are covered under the scheme.
The scheme has covered 7.37 crore hospital admissions, including 49 per cent women beneficiaries. The public has benefited to the extent of over Rs 1 Lakh crore under the scheme, the statement said.
AB PM-JAY scheme has witnessed continuous expansion of the beneficiary base, it said, adding that initially, 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families comprising the bottom 40 per cent of India's population were covered under the scheme.
In January 2022, the Union government revised the beneficiary base from 10.74 crore to 12 crore families considering India's decadal population growth of 11.7 per cent over the 2011 population.
The scheme was further expanded to cover 37 lakh ASHAs/AWWs/AWHs working across the country and their families for free healthcare benefits.
"Taking the mission ahead, AB PM-JAY would now provide free healthcare coverage of Rs 5 lakh to all citizens of the age group of 70 years and above across the country," the statement said.
New Delhi | The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the PM E-Drive Scheme with an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore for two years to boost adoption of electric vehicles in India, replacing the flagship FAME programme that ran for nine years till March.
The decision on PM Electric Drive Revolution In Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme was taken at the meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters here.
The scheme will support 24.79 lakh electric two-wheelers, 3.16 lakh e-three wheelers, and 14,028 e-buses.
The PM E-DRIVE will also support 88,500 charging sites, Vaishnaw said.
The new scheme offers subsidies/demand incentives worth Rs 3,679 crore to incentivise adoption of electric two-wheelers, electric three-wheelers, e-ambulances, e-trucks and other emerging elecric vehicles (EVs).
A sum of Rs 4,391 crore has also been provided for procurement of 14,028 e-buses by state transport undertakings and public transport agencies.
Besides, Rs 500 crore has been earmarked for the deployment of e-ambulances. This is a new initiative of the government to promote the use of e-ambulance for a comfortable patient transport.
A sum of Rs 500 crore has been provided for incentivising adoption of e-trucks.
Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicle (FAME) Scheme was launched in April 2015.
New Delhi | The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal of the Department of Rural Development for implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana-IV during financial year 2024-25 to 2028-29.
The financial assistance is to be provided for the construction of 62,500 km road for providing new connectivity to eligible 25,000 unconnected habitations and construction and upgradation of bridges on the new connectivity roads, an official statement said.
The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana-IV (PMGSY-IV) has been launched for financial year 2024-25 to 2028-29 with a total outlay of Rs 70,125 crore, of which the central share is Rs 49,087.50 crore and state share is Rs 21,037.50 crore.
Under this scheme, 25,000 unconnected habitations of population size of over 500 in plains and over 250 in Northeast and hill states, Union Territories and special category areas and over 100 in Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected districts according to Census 2011 will be covered.
All-weather roads measuring 62,500 km will be provided to unconnected habitations. The construction of required bridges along the alignment of the all-weather road will also be provided, the statement said.
The all-weather roads will play the role of catalysts for the required socio-economic development and transformation of the remote rural areas, it added.
"While connecting habitations, the nearby government educational, health, market and growth centres will be connected, as far as feasible, with the all-weather roads for the benefit of the local people," it said.
PMGSY-IV will incorporate international benchmarks and best practices under road constructions such as cold mix technology and waste plastic, panelled cement concrete, cell filled concrete, full depth reclamation, use of construction waste and other wastes such as fly ash and steel slag.
PMGSY-IV road alignment planning will be undertaken through the PM Gati Shakti portal. The planning tool on PM Gati Shakti portal will also assist in detail project report (DPR) preparation.
