Summary:
PUNE: Just 91 people have benefited from the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme in Pune district since its launch on September 23 last year, hinting at the failure of the authorities to reach out to the needy.When it comes to the state, about 4,000 people availed the benefit of the scheme in the past five months. “There is no denying that the scheme has failed to make an impact in Pune and other districts in Maharashtra , which can be attributed to various reasons. But implementing agencies and government officials are mainly interested in boasting about the benefits than really extending them to the needy.”Health officials of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) said unlike the state health scheme, Ayushman Bharat will only benefit those whose names have featured in Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) database. “About 1.31 lakh residents living in the PMC limits have their names listed in the SECC database. “They can, in turn, make the needy aware about enrolling themselves for the scheme..