Akshay Azad
JAMMU, Aug 6: Despite the fact that nearly 24 percent population of Jammu and Kashmir is living below poverty line but this deprived lot is failed to get the benefit of schemes meant for them.
The state is stood at the bottom in the list of states with least number of beneficiaries of Rashtriya Swastha Bima Yojana (RSBY), a scheme meant to provide cashless health insurance cover of Rs. 30,000 per annum to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
According to latest data available with Early Times, it has been came to fore that only 4988 families have got the benefit of RSBY in 2013-14 and with this minimum number of beneficiaries, J&K is stood at bottom in the list.
As per RSBY scheme, the beneficiaries are identified by the respective state on the basis of the eligibility conditions prescribed under the scheme and Jammu and Kashmir Government had able to identify only 4988 families for the year 2013-14.
The name of Chandigarh features in second from bottom with only 5854 beneficiaries while Union Territory Pondicherry has 9486 beneficiaries, the number more than double to Jammu and Kashmir.
As per recommen-dation of Government of India, apart from BPL families, RSBY coverage has been extended to various other categories of unorganised workers viz. Building and other construction workers, licensed railway porters, street vendors, MGNREGA workers (who have worked for more than fifteen days during preceding financial year), Beedi workers, domestic workers, sanitation workers, mine workers, rickshaw pullers, rag pickers and Auto/Taxi drivers.
Bihar is stood at top slot with highest number of 6102774 beneficiaries under RSBY, followed by West Bengal with 5748689 families covered under scheme. Uttar Pardesh is at number three position with 5541225 families.
It was nearly three years back that the Jammu and Kashmir Government had announced a health insurance cover for 66,000 families in the state under the scheme, which was first introduced in both capital cities under the supervision of the then Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma but the scheme has failed to show good response.
According to State Government claims, 48,000 cards were distributed in Jammu and 18,000 in Srinagar but so far for the year 2013-14, only a little number of families have got the benefit.
"All BPL families desire to get benefit of such schemes but lack of awareness and legal glitches keep them away from benefits of these schemes", an official said. |
