Shatrughan Sinha questions viability of NHPS, asks Arun Jaitley how Centre will fund programme

Bhopal: Joining fellow disgruntled BJP leader Yashwant Sinha in a protest over farmers’ issues, MP Shatrughan Sinha on Sunday questioned viability of the health insurance scheme announced in the Union Budget. The actor-turned-politician on Sunday reached Narsinghpur in Madhya Pradesh, where former finance minister Yashwant Sinha has launched a sit-in protest for farmers whose lands would be acquired for a thermal power plant. [caption id=“attachment_4335579” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha. PTI[/caption] The National Health Protection Scheme announced by finance minister Arun Jaitley would require Rs 1,25,000 crore for premium payment, which is more than the allocation for health sector in the budgets of the Centre and the states put together, Shatrughan said. “Where would this money come from,” he asked, addressing the gathering. The BJP MP recently joined Rashtra Manch, a political platform floated by Yashwant Sinha. Rashtra Manch has organised the sit-in outside Narsinghpur collector’s office since 1 February. Earlier in the day, the Madhya Pradesh unit of AAP joined in Sinha’s agitation. “I am sitting with Yashwant-ji. Our party also took out a mock funeral procession of the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh for its anti-farmer policies,” state AAP convener Alok Agrawal told PTI over phone from Narsinghpur. Agrawal added that Sinha’s protest is to press for several demands, among them jobs for farmers who will be displaced by the upcoming coal-fired power project.