The Edit
Budget is essentially a financial exercise with a little tinge of political messaging. The ritual this year was different. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made captivating announcements with catchy slogans like “ease of living”, “minimum government and maximum governance”, “premium on honesty”, “blackboard to digital board” and “the new India”. It seemed to be a typical ”Modified” presentattion unmindful of the ground realities. In exuberance, the government officials termed “Ayushman Bharat Programme” as “Modicare” — and touted it as the largest public healthcare programme globally. Typical of this government, the scheme came out to be tall on claims and short on details.
Only Rs 2,000 crore has been provided for the grand plan in the Budget, but that has not stopped apologists claiming it to be a game-changer, while detractors are calling it another jumla (empty statement). And, yet, no political party would dare to oppose a scheme that promises much-needed healthcare to our poorest people. Will Modicare work and be a game-changer?
Over the past four years, the Narendra Modi government has demonstrated its ability to ram through big and audacious programmes but has fallen far short on implementation. Demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST), with its many glitches and frequent change in rules, caused immense hardship and anger by treating people like guinea pigs. The government adamantly refuses to admit to any flaws in the mega unique identification programme (Aadhaar), despite sickening reports of denial of benefits and rights, data leaks and faulty implementation every other day.
When it comes to Modicare, puffery and media management is giving us different signals. On the one hand, an interview by Union health minister, JP Nadda, to The Economic Times suggests that the scheme is still being designed and will evolve over the next six months or longer. In complete contrast to what the health minister has said, Firstpost.com claims that a 28-page report titled “Universal Access and Quality” was prepared by top bureaucrats, way back in 2016, under the direct supervision of the prime minister. Why then is the health minister saying that the scheme is still being formulated, two years later? Writing for the Scroll, T Sundaraman, a healthcare expert, points out that a smaller version of Modicare “was, in fact, announced in the 2016 Budget—the only difference being that the sum assured was raised from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh then and to Rs 5 lakh now. The scheme has not been operationalised in the last two years. Moreover, not even 50% of the funds under the existing health cover scheme have been spent in the past year.”
Leave all the intricacies, Modicare in nutshell promises a paradise that could be attained only after life. The Modi government remains true to its regressiveBrahmanical spirit by treating human life and ailments as mithya while promising mukti after death at just Rs. 40 per capita (going by the allocated amount and targeted coverage)! Nowhere citizens are fooled to this extent except India. Never has been the liberty so cheap in mankind’s history.