New Delhi (NVI): More than 10 million truck drivers and their families are set to get access to the long due targeted healthcare services with the Government partnering with all-India transporters association yesterday.
With an aim to provide healthcare services to 10 million truck drivers in India under ‘Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana’ (PM-JAY) scheme, National Health Authority (NHA) and All India Transporters Welfare Association (AITWA) yesterday announced a partnership by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU).
Under this partnership, NHA and AITWA will work together to identify truck drivers and employees at transport companies eligible for the scheme. Common Service Centres (CSC) will facilitate the verification of drivers using NHA’s Beneficiary Identification System (BIS), said the statement.
Through this collaboration, thousands of eligible families will be able to access in-patient care for serious illnesses at a country-wide network of 19,002 government and private hospitals empanelled under PM-JAY. Drivers can get their AB PM-JAY e-cards issued at the nearest AITWA Highway Hero Center, the statement added.
It further added, “The first phase will see AITWA and AB PM-JAY pilot at key locations which will subsequently be rolled out to other towns across the country. Eligible drivers as well as employees, across different transport companies, will be able to avail the benefits of the programme and after obtaining the PM-JAY cards. Officials from the National Health Authority will work closely with the concerned team at AITWA and CSC for conducting beneficiary identification drive to carry out efficient handling of the process from checking eligibility to handing out AB-PMJAY e-cards.”
Speaking on the occasion, Mahendra Arya, President, AITWA highlighted that their partnership with the National Health Authority is a step forward in enabling quality healthcare to transport industry workers and their families. The effort to enrol eligible beneficiaries under PM-JAY from the transport industry will truly strengthen the Highway Heroes project, focused on welfare of transport workers.
“The partnership with AITWA is another milestone in our endeavour to reach the maximum beneficiaries across the country. This collaboration with AITWA will enable us to further expand our network to provide quality inpatient care, and we look forward to effectively driving awareness about Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY among potential beneficiaries,” said Indu Bhushan, CEO, AB-PMJAY and National Health Authority.
The tripartite MoU was signed in presence of NHA CEO Indu Bhushan between NHA General Manager Rohit Deo Jha, AITWA President Mahendra Arya and representative from Common Service Centres (CSC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The Chairman of AITWA Pradeep Singhal and Patron AITWA SN Arya were also present at the occasion.
PM-JAY, India’s flagship and world’s largest publicly funded health insurance and assurance scheme was implemented by the National Health Authority.
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