Alleging that the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme is ‘a major scam,’ Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said the health model of the Delhi government is better and urged Prime Minister Narender Modi to implement it nationwide.

The criticism came a day after Prime Minister Modi expressed his disappointment as the extension of the scheme would not apply to Delhi and West Bengal as their governments “for their political interests” had not associated themselves with the scheme.

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Citing a CAG report findings, the AAP leader claimed that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) itself has reported multiple scams within the Ayushman Bharat scheme. The scheme offers coverage up to Rs 5 lakh but only if you are hospitalized but in contrast, Delhi’s healthcare model ensures free treatment for all, whether for OPD or IPD services, he added.

“Every resident of Delhi, whether they have a simple cold or need hospitalization, receives all treatment, medication, and tests free of charge—no limits, no caps. In Delhi, whether it’s a five-rupee tablet or a treatment costing 50 lakh or even one crore rupees, everything is provided free of charge,” he added.

The AAP leader said: “Yesterday, I requested the Prime Minister to study Delhi’s healthcare model and consider implementing it across the nation. It’s not about whose scheme it is; it’s about ensuring quality healthcare for every citizen.”

Echoing similar sentiments, AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar dubbed the PM’s statement as misleading and said, “Health is a very important issue for the AAP government in Delhi and it has presented a health model so effective that even Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General, also praised it.”

“While PM Modi has introduced a scam-ridden scheme called Ayushman Bharat, which the CAG has also called out for its fraud,” she said, adding that the Centre’s scheme provides a total insurance coverage of only Rs 5 lakh per family, while Delhi’s health scheme covers any expense, whether it’s a Rs 5 medicine or a surgery costing Rs 1 crore.

“Under Ayushman Bharat, if you have a refrigerator, TV, mobile phone, or scooter at home, you are excluded from the benefits. Delhi’s scheme, on the other hand, covers everyone regardless of such possessions,” the spokesperson added.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has also criticized the Delhi government over not implementing the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. Leader of Opposition in Delhi assembly Vijender Gupta responded to Kejriwal’s claim stating that he is questioning this welfare scheme of the central government to cover up his own failures.

“I want to inform Kejriwal that the ‘Prime Minister Ayushman Bharat Scheme,’ which he is criticizing, has so far enabled over 34.70 crore people across the country to get their ‘Ayushman Card,’ and more than 30,000 hospitals are providing free treatment under this scheme,” he said.

According to Gupta, nearly 6 million crore people have received free treatment in private hospitals under this national health scheme,” the BJP leader added.

The LOP alleged: “Earlier this year, after complaints of corruption, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) investigated the clinics and found that between February and December 2023, a total of 2.2 million tests were conducted in these clinics through an outsourced private agency and among these, 65,000 tests were found to be fake.”

This clearly indicates that 65,000 ‘ghost patients’ were created, leading to financial embezzlement of crores of rupees. These clinics neither have medicines nor doctors, leading to many of them being shut down, he added.