‘I apologise to all elderly above 70’: PM Modi’s attack against AAP, TMC governments for not joining Ayushman scheme | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday apologised to the elderly for not being able to “serve them”, slamming the TMC government in West Bengal and AAP regime in Delhi on Tuesday for not implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme. “Elderly in Delhi, Bengal won’t be able to benefit from Ayushman Bharat as their governments are not implementing it for political reasons,” the PM said.
The PM was speaking at a programme where he extended the scope of the central government’s flagship Ayushman Bharat scheme to cover all senior citizens aged 70 years and above.
“People aged above 70 will get free treatment in hospitals; they will be given the ‘Ayushman Vaya Vandana’ card,” PM Modi said at the event.
However, PM Modi sought an “apology” from the people of Bengal and Delhi as they have been excluded from the scheme. “I apologise to all the elderly people above 70 years of age in Delhi and all the elderly people above 70 years of age in West Bengal that I will not be able to serve you. I apologize to them that I will know how you are, and I will get the information but I will not be able to help you and the reason is that the government in Delhi and the government in West Bengal are not joining this Ayushman Yojana,” PM said.
“The tendency to oppress the sick people of your own state for your political interests is against any humane attitude and hence I apologize to the elderly people of West Bengal, I apologize to the elderly people of Delhi, I can serve the people of the country, but the walls of the political profession are preventing me from serving the elderly people of Delhi, and West Bengal,” he further said.
The major push in the health sector was unveiled on the occasion of the ninth Ayurveda Day and the birth anniversary of Dhanvantari, the Hindu god of medicine.