BENGALURU: Chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging to recognise the contribution of the Karnataka government in the Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka (AB-ArK) health insurance scheme.The Ayushman Bharat scheme was co-branded with Arogya Karnataka as the latter was first launched on March 2, 2018 by the state and later, the Centre announced on March 21, 2018 its scheme for BPL families.The benefits of the centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) have been confined to 62.2 lakh families whereas the total number of BPL families covered by the state is over 1.20 crore with the government bearing the cost of the remaining 58 lakh families. “Under AB-ArK, 40,483 beneficiaries availed treatment, of which 9,970 are covered under the CSS assistance and the remaining 30,513 under the state’s initiative. Of the total expenditure of Rs 161 crore, Rs 139 crore has been borne by the state while the Centre’s contribution is only Rs 22 crore,” he claimed.He said the the PM’s letters to CSS beneficiaries with ‘dummy’ health cards was “creating confusion”.Under the agreement signed between the Centre and the state, all information, education and communication (IEC) material, including advertisements and promotions carried in the media shall carry photographs, if required, of political functionaries of both state and central governments. “However, these letters carry photographs of only the PM. The state was also not consulted while sending these letters though it has borne a higher share of expenditure,” he added.He requested the PM to henceforth release promotional or communication material “after due consultation” with the state and carry photographs of state functionaries along with those of the Centre.

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