Hemant Soren govt in Jharkhand is brazenly scamming Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries

• The Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand government is about to complete two years in power.
• From the rise of Naxalism to the influence of Christian missionaries on the government, rampant corruption to inefficient implementation of welfare policies, the Hemant Soren government has failed on almost all fronts.
• the Jharkhand government has decided to charge 1,050 rupees to all non-government hospitals that pick units of blood from the state blood bank.

The Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand government is about to complete two years in power. In the last two years, it has been in news for all wrong reasons. From the rise of Naxalism to the influence of Christian missionaries on the government, rampant corruption to inefficient implementation of welfare policies, the Hemant Soren government has failed on almost all fronts.

The government is in news for the wrong reasons once again. This time for charging 1,050 rupees for beneficiaries for blood taking from the state blood bank. A large number of people across the country voluntarily donate blood regularly as a public service to ensure that needy patients can get blood. Most of the state government-run hospitals as well as private hospitals do not charge for blood because apart from the processing fees, the blood is collected for free through various NGOs or government-run blood banks. 

However, the Jharkhand government has decided to charge 1,050 rupees to all non-government hospitals that pick units of blood from the state blood bank. This has irked several blood donors and NGOs which work in the domain of public health.

Atul Gera, President of Life Savers Foundation, asked for permission to protest outside Raj Bhavan, Ranchi against the government decision. “Government wants to sell a unit of blood from a state-run blood bank for Rs 1050 to the poor patient undergoing treatment at private hospitals. The decision was worth withdrawing as the poor patients admitted at private hospitals so far used to get the blood free of cost. Apart from this, the blood is collected free of cost from donors,” said Gera.

On Twitter, Gera said that under the National Health Mission as well as the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, the availability of blood for patients is dealt with. If the government is willing to provide free blood, it can cover whatsoever the cost under the Union government schemes but it is hell-bent to charge poor patients.

Almost three years ago, Prime Minister Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat scheme from Jharkhand. The primary objective of the scheme is to provide 5 lakh rupees health insurance to poor people across the country. States like Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, where a large number of people are below the poverty line, are expected to benefit heavily from the scheme. 

However, Hemant Soren-led government is not able to even implement the Union government-sponsored scheme, and this says a lot about the administrative abilities of the CM.

In the last two years, the Hemant Soren government has implemented anti-national, anti-people, anti-Hinduism, and anti-Hindi policies. A few months ago, Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC), has notified new rules for the examination of grade III and grade IV employees and dropped Hindi and Sanskrit from the list of main language papers.

As per the new rules, the candidate must pass a language paper and s/he has the option to choose from 12 languages that include tribal languages besides Bengali, Odiya, and Urdu.

Earlier Hindi and Sanskrit were also in the list of languages that a candidate can opt for a language paper, but the Soren government dropped both of these languages and retained Urdu. So, the fact is that the people who know only Hindi are not eligible for the grade 3 and grade 4 jobs.

Moreover, the government has also made it mandatory that the candidates from non-reserved categories of the Jharkhand government must have passed class 10th and class 12th exams from the state. So, if the reserved category gives education in another state to their children, it is fine for the Jharkhand government, but the general category people cannot send their children outside the state, otherwise, they will not be eligible for JSSC jobs.

The ruling alliance relies heavily on tribal votes, therefore, to appease the community, the Jharkhand government is taking such decisions. It seems that the Hemant Soren government is working only for the people who have voted for him, not for the citizens of the state. Hemant Soren still has three years for course correction, otherwise, he will be ousted from the state just like Congress from Northern India.