Chandigarh: The Punjab Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s announcement of providing health insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh to the people of the state is a bundle of lies aimed at misleading people, alleged senior Punjab BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia here on Monday.
Doubt Over How Rs 10 Lakh Coverage Is Possible With Rs 1 Lakh Premium
Addressing newspersons, Kalia, former party state president and a former minister asked that when the government is paying a premium of just Rs 1 lakh to the insurance company, how can the company provide insurance cover of ₹10 lakh?
State Exchequer to Ultimately Bear the Hidden Financial Burden
Kalia said that the state government claims that under this scheme, to cover 65 lakh families for a population of 3 crore, a premium of Rs1 lakh will be paid by the Punjab AAP government to the insurance company (United India Insurance Company), while the remaining financial burden has been placed on the state health agency - meaning it will ultimately fall on the state exchequer. He questioned how the government would bear such a huge expenditure from the state treasury when it does not even have sufficient funds to pay old-age and widow pensions.
Kalia said that today Punjab is burdened with a debt of over Rs 4 lakh crore, and the per capita debt has reached Rs 1,23,274. The state’s share from GST has declined by 40.35%, he held and added that in addition, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has outstanding dues of more than Rs 10,500 crore, making it difficult to understand how the government will bear such a huge cost of people’s medical treatment from the state exchequer.
