On February 19, 2021 The National Health Authority (NHA) has signed Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with Common Service Centres (CSCs) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY) to generate new Polyvinyl Chloride(PVC)beneficiary cards called ‘Ayushman cards’ under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
i.This enables the eligible beneficiaries under PM-JAY to avail their entitlement cards free of cost.
ii.Earlier, the beneficiaries were required to pay a nominal fee of Rs. 30 per card to the village level entrepreneurs (VLEs) field level operators under the CSCs across the country.
Key People
The MoU was signed by Dr Ram Sewak Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, National Health Authority and Dr Dinesh Tyagi, Managing Director, CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd at the NHA office in New Delhi, Delhi.
Note: Ayushman cards are replacement of paper-based cards.
Provisions of MoU:
Payment
i.Under the MoU, NHA will pay Rs. 20 (exclusive of taxes) for issuing the Ayushman card for the first time to CSC, and other such associated organisations.
ii.CSC will charge Rs 15(excluding taxes) to issue of duplicate cards or reprints
Benefits
i.Now, Ayushman cards generated at any of the PM-JAY empanelled hospitals will be issued for free and will be continued to do so.
ii.This MoU will further deepen the partnership between NHA and CSC, through which over 9.15 crore beneficiary cards have been issued so far using our own IT system.
- In addition to it, 4.68 cards were issued by the States using their respective IT systems.
Info about PVC Cards
i.In order to ensure uniformity and quality of Ayushman cards distributed Pan-India, the
PVC cards will be manufactured at a centralised location
ii.At the back of the e-card, the State specific instructions/information will be printed.
iii.The card will be issued to VLEs who have generated the PM-JAY ID, after which
Ayushman Card can be collected after bio-authentication.
What is CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd?
It is a Special Purpose Vehicle(SPV) that has been set up by MeitY under companies act 1956 to oversee the implementation of CSC scheme.
About Ayushman Bharat:
- Ayushman Bharat, a flagship scheme of Government of India, was launched as recommended by the National Health Policy 2017, to achieve the vision of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
- It provides an insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per family.
- It covers up to 3 days of pre-hospitalization and 15 days post-hospitalization expenses such as diagnostics and medicines.
Recent Related News:
UTI Infrastructure Technology And Services Limited (UTIITSL) has signed Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with the National Health Authority (NHA) to provide printing services(through its branches and PSAs), support the beneficiary identification(i.e., fill up online validation process) and verification process in issuing e-cards to beneficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
About National Health Authority (NHA):
Headquarters– New Delhi, India
CEO– Ram Sewak Sharma
About Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY):
Union Minister– Ravi Shankar Prasad(Constituency- Patna Sahib, Bihar)
Minister of State– Sanjay Dhotre(Constituency-Akola,Maharashtra)
