Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said that the people living in the slums of the urban areas should also have access to Primary Health Care facilities and to realize this goal in the state 25 Atal clinics have been started while by September 25 about 100 such clinics will be opened in a phase-wise manner by the State Government.
Launching the Atal clinic Edalhatu Community Hall in Morabadi here is said that all the people who are covered under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana would be provided golden cards in the state by September 25.
He said that the Ayushman Bharat Yojana was proving to be a boon for the poor as so far the state government has paid Rs 206 crore on the treatment of the poor and in just 10 months 2.27 lakh people have been treated under this scheme. He said that if the scheme was not functional then the poor would have been forced to spend Rs 206 on their medical treatment.
The Chief Minister said that the Civil surgeon will at least visit one of the Atal clinics each day so that people can get better health care facilities and the doctors and nurses working in the clinics should work to serve the people.
He said that the main purpose behind launching this scheme was to save the poor people from a serious disease he said adding that he too comes from a poor family and since he was scared of spending the money for treatment of a small disease it went on to become a serious disease. However, the Atal clinic would be providing initial treatment for the needy free of cost so that negligence does not lead to creating bigger health issues for them.
Mr Das said that UNDP report has also said that Jharkhand was among the second state in the world which is coming rapidly above the poverty line and there has been an increase in the purchasing power of the people in the state. He is said that the consumption of petrol and diesel has increased by 15 percent in Jharkhand which has been only possible due to the increase in the purchasing capacity of the people.