Telangana Chief Minister KCR is known to express his disdain publicly, towards any scheme or law that the central government introduces. This has been the case with both the Ayushman Bharat scheme and the very recently introduced farm laws.
The Ayushman Baharat scheme was introduced nearly two years ago, and despite a lot of pressure from the Center, KCR refused to implement this scheme in Telangana, stating that the state’s Aarogyasri scheme is far more superior than the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, and taht while Arogya Sri managed to help a lot of people, the Ayushman Bharat scheme would barely help one lakh people.
Even during the lockdown, a few months ago, when the number of Coronavirus cases were on the rise in the country and in the state, despite heavy pressure, KCR refused to implement Ayushman Bharat in the state, once again reiterating that Arogyasri is far more beneficial than Ayushman Bharat. KCR’s continued refusal to implement Ayushman Bharat in Telangana is the reason why many are now criticising the Chief Minister for giving into the pressures from the Center, after he announced the matter on Wednesday.
Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar said that Ayushman Bharat would be dovetailed along with the Arogyasri scheme in the state. At the same time, Somesh Kumar also said that the Government of India recognises that 98.5% of the households in Telangana have access to fresh tap water, with the help of Mission Bhagiratha Scheme introduced in the state.