Amid growing cases of Coronavirus in India, the government has decided to provide health insurance cover to around 9.5 lakh farmers under Ayushman Bharat Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana for FY2020-21. These farmers along with their families will be covered under the health insurance scheme that was launched by the state government of Punjab.
Punjab government had launched the scheme on the Rajiv Gandhi birth anniversary on 20th August 2019, with 45 lakh families covered in 2019-2020. It is important to mention that the scheme has been very helpful to people of Punjab during this Covid-19 crisis. The state government also capped charges for Coronavirus treatment in hospitals empanelled under Ayushman Bharat Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana.
Benefits of Ayushman Bharat Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana
Chief Minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh said that the beneficiaries can go to any of the 546 empanelled private hospitals & 208 government hospitals for treatment facility of up to Rs 5 lakh for 1,396 diseases that includes major surgical treatments like as cancer treatment, heart surgery, joint replacement & accident cases under government health insurance scheme.
In the first year of the scheme, the number of farmers covered stood at around five lakh, as these had been issued ‘J’ forms by the Mandi Board in 2015. With 8.7 lakh cultivators and 80,000 cane growers registered with the Mandi Board as ‘J’ form holders who have sold their agricultural produce on or after 1st January 2020 and in 1st Nov 2019- 31st March 2020 sugar season (SS), respectively, the farming families eligible for coverage in FY2020-21 has increased to 9.5 lakh.
As the Chief Minister has approved their inclusion in the scheme, all 9.5 lakh farmers will be covered with effect from 20th August 2020, as per an official spokesperson.
Mandi Board will pay the whole premium amount for the insurance cover of all cultivators, who will get a cashless treatment facility up to Rs 5 lakh /annum. It is estimated that this insurance scheme will cost Mandi Board Rs 120 crore yearly.
All farmers having ‘J’ forms & ‘sugarcane weightment slips’ will be required to submit their duly filled self-declaration, along with other important documents, at the concerned Market Committee office or with the Commission Agent or Arhtiya till 24th July 2020. Singh also asked chairman of Mandi Board Lal Singh to direct the Market Committees to facilitate every farmer to take benefit of this cashless treatment facility in a seamless manner.
How to apply for Health Insurance Scheme
Farmers who are interested can collect self-declaration form either from the office of Market Committee or Arhtiyas or can even download the same from the official website of Mandi Board http://www.mandiboard.nic.in.
