Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said on September 11 that people above 70 years of age will now be included under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. The Union Cabinet has approved it. According to the cabinet decision, all senior citizens will be provided free health insurance of Rs 5 lakh under Ayushman Bharat. 6 crore senior citizens will come under its purview. According to Vaishnav, if senior citizens are already under the purview of Ayushman Bharat, they will get a top-up cover of up to Rs 5 lakh every year. If senior citizens are already covered under the central government’s health scheme, they will get the option to shift to the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
Apart from this, the Cabinet has approved the PM e-Drive scheme of Rs 10,900 crore. This approval has been given for two-wheelers, ambulances, trucks and three-wheelers. Under the PM e-Drive scheme, 100 percent support will be provided at 88,500 sites for charging infrastructure. Vaishnav says that this facility is different from the PLI scheme for auto and auto component sectors. Apart from this, the Cabinet has also approved a payment security system of Rs 3,435 crore under the PM e-Bus scheme, under which 3,800 buses will be promoted in 169 cities.
