No treatment for newly enrolled elderly in PM's Vaya Vandana scheme

ALAPPUZHA: Those who are members of the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana scheme, launched by the Centre to provide free treatment to those above the age of 70, are not getting treatment. The reason is that the empaneled hospitals have not received the instructions.

The nodal office in Thiruvananthapuram, which is responsible for supervising the scheme, explains that the scheme should not be implemented in Kerala for the time being. There are about 30 lakh people in Kerala who are above the age of 70.

Those who were eligible for free treatment under the Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi (KASP) have also not been able to get treatment after the Prime Minister switched to the Vaya Vandan scheme. The elderly are left without a choice as there are no announcements related to the scheme in the central and state budgets.

The largest number of people come to hospitals with this card for cataract surgery. It is only after they do the blood tests and prepare for being admitted that they realise that this scheme is not available. With that, the tests they have already done by paying their money would be wasted. If the surgery cannot be performed within a month, tests, including scanning, should be done again.

Disqualification from the Karunya scheme

• Ayushman Bharat should be implemented by merging it with the state scheme Karunya Suraksha Yojana.
• If you register for Ayushman Vaya Vandana, you will be disqualified from Karunya Arogya Suraksha Yojana.
• Like the Karunya scheme, it is agreed that the Centre will pay 60% of the cost of treatment, and the remaining 40% will be paid by the State in Vaya Vandana.

"Thousands of people are being stranded without getting treatment under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. If technical hurdles and problems are not resolved, senior citizens will not be able to get treatment." - Chandradas Kesava Pillai, social activist

"No instructions have been received from the state and central governments to start the project." - State Health Agency