West Bengal pulls out of Ayushman Bharat; Mamata Banerjee accuses NDA of running 'parallel administration' in state

Escalating the tiff with Narendra Modi, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday announced that her government will pull out of the Centre’s healthcare scheme, Ayushman Bharat Yojana, ANI reported.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Ayushman Bharat Yojana: My state will not contribute 40% of the funds for the Ayushman scheme. Centre has to pay the full amount if Centre wants to run the scheme. pic.twitter.com/vCXM2vh25G

— ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2019

Banerjee said that West Bengal will withdraw from contributing 40 percent of the state share for the scheme. [caption id=“attachment_4720751” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee[/caption] Addressing a public meet in Nadia district, Banerjee alleged that the Modi government was running a parallel administration in states, Deccan Herald reported. “They are claiming to do everything from health projects, housing, education infrastructure and even Kanyashree. If you ( Centre) you are doing everything then there is no need for state governments. Are you running parallel governments in the states?” asked Banerjee. According to News18, in West Bengal, the Centre’s flagship scheme was merged with Banerjee’s Swasthya Sathi health scheme, where the state government provides for 40 percent of the total cost of healthcare. Other than West Bengal, the Odisha government in September had withdrawn itself from joining the central scheme, saying it has introduced a better programme, Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, in the state. Ayushman Bharat is a National Health Protection Scheme that provides for up to Rs 5 lakh medical coverage per family annually to more than 10 crore poor and vulnerable households.