Staff Reporter GUWAHATI: As many as five more private hospitals and 123 more government hospitals have been roped in cashless treatment under the AB-PMJAY (Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana) on Sunday when the third phase of the scheme was launched. In phase I and phase II of the scheme, 141 private hospitals and 38 government hospitals were roped in with the scheme. However, with the addition of more private and government hospitals, at present the scheme has 146 private hospitals and 161 government hospitals. Launching the third phase of the scheme on Sunday, State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the lack of leadership has been affecting the medical sector in the State. He said that it is due to lack of leadership in the medical sector a CT scan takes eleven days – seven days for the test and four days for the report. “A woman patient told me this when I donated blood at the GMCH on Saturday on the occasion of Sewa Saptah,” he said. Criticizing the arogya mitras, Sarma said that patients availing AB-PMJAY have to face trouble as a section of such health workers are not in the habit behaving well with patients. He said that the patients also face problems in getting medicines and equipment as the government supplies around 80 per cent of them. For the remaining 20 per cent, he said, the government has an understanding with Amrit pharmacies to supply them when medicines are not found in government stores under the schemes. “When medicines are not found in both of such stores, the hospitals should engage either one of pharmacies in campus or through tender,” he said. The minister said that Atal Amrit is going to bring more diseases under it. “Medical stores will be set up in 600 tea estate hospitals in the State,” he said. Also Read: Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma launches AB-PMJAY Also Watch: Leopard caged in Naharani Megha Tea Estate

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