Punjab health minister flags off 7 IEC vans

Aiming to take the government’s flagship programme ‘Ayushman Bharat Mukhya Mantri Sehat Bima Yojana’ to the grassroots, Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Friday flagged off seven Information Education and Communication (IEC) vans to sensitise people and enrol beneficiaries.

The scheme provides insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family per year, said an official statement.

Balbir Singh said the Punjab government is mulling to universalise this health insurance scheme in the near future.

“Once the scheme is universalised, every individual could benefit from this insurance scheme by paying a minimal amount as premium,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Singh said this awareness campaign is aimed at enhancing rural outreach so that every eligible person should get benefit of this flagship scheme.

He said that 70 per cent of Punjab’s eligible population has already been enrolled in this scheme and with this awareness campaign Punjab aims to cover hundred percent of the eligible population.

“Over the past 15 months, from March 2022, approximately 5.80 lakh treatment packages worth Rs 730 crores were provided,” he added.

Giving more details about the awareness vans, the Health Minister said this statewide mass contact-cum-awareness programme would cover all districts.