The Union Government is working on the inclusion of an AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) package under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY). AB PM-JAY aims to provide health cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to approximately 55 crore beneficiaries corresponding to 12.34 crore families constituting the bottom 40% of the population.
Also Read: Budget allocation up, States urged to spend more on improving health infrastructure “Aspects of the AYUSH package integration — such as package design and cost, AYUSH hospital onboarding, standard treatment guidelines, objectively defined treatment outcomes and financial implications among others — are under discussion. Wider stakeholder consultations involving implementing States/UTs have been held,” said Minister of State (IC) for Ayush, Prataprao Jadhav, in the Lok Sabha recently. The Minister said public health is a State subject and the primary responsibility to ensure the availability of AYUSH treatment lies with State/UT governments.
However, the Ministry is implementing the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National Ayush Mission (NAM) through State/UT governments for development and promotion of AYUSH system. Also Read: Mainstreaming of Ayush a core strategy in National Health Mission, says Centre to Rajya Sabha According to the information presented in the Lok Sabha, “Central government employees and pensioners.