States » EastPosted at: Nov 6 2026 9:52PM


West Bengal generates 4.2 crore Ayushman Cards in 80 days

Kolkata, Nov 6 (UNI) West Bengal has generated 4.2 crore Ayushman Cards and provided treatment to 2.2 lakh people within 80 days of joining the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), officials said at a national review meeting held in the city.
West Bengal joined AB PM-JAY as the 36th state, launching the scheme on August 16, 2026.
The progress was highlighted during a two-day review of AB PM-JAY and the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), attended by senior officials from the National Health Authority (NHA), West Bengal and other states and union Territories.
West Bengal Health Department Principal Secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam said the two schemes represented complementary pillars of healthcare reform — financial protection and digital empowerment.
“AB PM-JAY and ABDM address two fundamental dimensions of healthcare transformation, financial protection and digital empowerment. As we move towards the national vision of universal healthcare, their convergence can help build a connected, transparent, efficient and patient-centric ecosystem. Our focus is on ensuring that the benefits of this transformation reach people effectively,” he said.
Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Aggarwal said financial protection at the hospitalisation stage needed to be supported by stronger primary healthcare to prevent illnesses from progressing to the point where hospitalisation was required.
“Healthcare should never push a family into poverty. AB PM-JAY is a game changer in ensuring healthcare security for every eligible family. At the same time, strengthening primary healthcare is essential to reducing the burden on hospitals and improving health outcomes. West Bengal is committed to making the implementation of the scheme robust, comprehensive and people-centric,” he said.
NHA CEO Sunil Kumar Barnwal said the state had made rapid progress following its integration with the national AB PM-JAY platform, but the focus now needed to shift towards better health outcomes.
“Every rupee spent on healthcare must lead to better care for our people. Technology, data and artificial intelligence can strengthen implementation, improve efficiency and support more informed decision-making. As we move forward, our focus must increasingly shift from financing treatment towards achieving better health outcomes for beneficiaries,” he said.
The two-day review, which began on November 5, comprised 15 sessions covering beneficiary coverage, awareness, claims processing, fraud prevention, digital health, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and convergence of health schemes.
Officials discussed greater automation in claims adjudication through the National Anti-Fraud Unit, with emphasis on processing time, cost savings and quality, alongside regular fraud reviews and monitoring.
The National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX) was also discussed, with officials stressing the need for AB PM-JAY empanelled hospitals to adopt ABDM-enabled Hospital Information Systems to improve claims processing and accuracy.
The meeting also examined the use of AI in healthcare, including the Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI (BODH), which enables evaluation of AI models using Indian datasets.
A real-time demonstration of Sandbox 2.0, enhanced with agentic AI capabilities, showed how AI-assisted tools could accelerate ABDM integration. An ABDM Milestone 1 integration for ABHA creation was completed during the demonstration.
Cybersecurity risks, including phishing, fraudulent applications and URLs, credential leaks and third-party vulnerabilities, were also discussed, with states urged to strengthen authentication, access controls and security audits.
The review concluded with a roadmap to translate expanded coverage and digital adoption into timely access to quality healthcare and measurable improvements in health outcomes.
The meeting was attended by senior officials including West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Aggarwal, NHA CEO Sunil Kumar Barnwal, Health Principal Secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam and State Health Agency CEO Sharad Dwivedi.
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