Madhya Pradesh: Over 8k Ayushman cards found fake in Mandsaur

Mandsaur (Madhya Pradesh): A major scam involving Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana was unearthed in Mandsaur after 8,412 Ayushman cards were found fake. The number of fake cards is expected to rise further as administration has initiated verification process. Government audit report revealed that common service centres in villages, tehsils were issuing fake Ayushman cards to beneficiaries.

Credentials of eligible beneficiaries were used to issue fake cards. Verification process was underway in Dalauda, Malhargarh, Sitamau, Shamgarh, Suwasra, Garoth and Bhanpura tehsils to detect fake e-cards. Administration aimed to issue 8.8 lakh Ayushman cards across the district. Out of them 7.7 lakh cards have already been issued.

At panchayat level, employment assistant and secretary were authorised to generate Ayushman cards through common service centres. E-cards were prepared and issued to eligible people as per the criteria set by the government. Under the scheme, the card holders are provided free treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh. Upon receiving the cards, beneficiaries could avail the benefits of the scheme at any of the empanelled public and private hospitals.

When a patient visits any empanelled hospital, Ayushman Bharat card is verified by government portal and treatment starts after verification. Special team detected several technical glitches, data mismatch across tehsils during card generation that was leading to rejection.

CMHO Dr Anil Nakum said that audit report revealed that Common Service Centres in rural areas were duping the government by issuing fake Ayushman cards. The process of disabling fake e-cards from the list was underway, he added.