Bengal To Implement Ayushman Bharat As BJP Govt Begins Policy Push

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday welcomed the decision of the newly elected BJP government in West Bengal to implement Ayushman Bharat, calling it a major step towards ensuring affordable healthcare access for the people of the state.

The announcement came a day after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari chaired his first Cabinet meeting and unveiled six major policy decisions, including the implementation of the Centre’s flagship health insurance programme.

Under Ayushman Bharat, also known as Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), eligible families are entitled to annual health insurance coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh for treatment at empanelled government and private hospitals.

“The welfare of my sisters and brothers of West Bengal is supreme. I’m very happy that the people of the state will have access to Ayushman Bharat, the world’s largest healthcare scheme that ensures top-quality and affordable healthcare,” Modi said in a post on X.

He also said the “double-engine government” in the state would ensure seamless implementation of key Central welfare schemes. The term is often used by the BJP to describe a situation where the same party governs both the Centre and the state, enabling closer coordination in policy execution and fund utilisation.

The decision marks a significant policy shift in West Bengal, which had stayed out of the Ayushman Bharat programme during the tenure of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the All India Trinamool Congress government.

The TMC government had instead implemented its own healthcare programme, Swasthya Sathi, citing differences with the Centre over branding, data-sharing and administrative control of the national scheme.

The BJP, however, had repeatedly promised to bring Ayushman Bharat to the state if voted to power. The party secured a decisive victory in the recent Assembly elections, winning 207 seats in the 294-member House and ending the TMC’s long rule in the state. The TMC, which governed West Bengal since 2011, has now become the principal opposition party in the Assembly.

Political observers view the rollout of Ayushman Bharat in West Bengal as one of the first major governance decisions of the new BJP administration and a sign of closer alignment between the state and the Central government on welfare delivery.