Aadhaar must for Ayushman Bharat, apply for UID by March 2019

Healthy Ministry has issued a circular, which states that beneficiaries of the Ayushman Health Scheme will need to enroll for Aadhaar, else the benefits won’t be granted.

Under the Ayushman Health Scheme,
which is World’s largest healthcare program, every financially vulnerable family in India will be allocated Rs 5,00,000 as medical coverage.

This health support will be provided under secondary and tertiary care hospitalization, and 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centres shall be established all over the nation.

‘Ayushman Bharat’ national health insurance scheme, which will offer cashless hospitalisation up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year to beneficiaries belonging to financially vulnerable households. 

The government has given beneficiaries time till March 31, 2019 to apply for Aadhaar if they have yet to get the 12-digit unique identity number, even as the Ayushman Bharat scheme may be rolled out later this year. 

A beneficiary eligible for receiving the benefits under the scheme shall be required to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo Aadhaar authentication. Any beneficiary desirous of availing the benefits under the scheme, who is not yet enrolled for Aadhaar, shall have to apply for Aadhaar by 31st March, 2019,” the notification said. 

Interestingly, Supreme Court has already stated that lack of Aadhaar cannot be the reason to deny basic, essential services by the Govt.