Times of India: Ahmedabad : Sunday, April 03, 2022.
Seeking any information on the financial agreements entered into for one of the largest, government-funded public health insurance scheme is a “trade secret” and can be denied under the RTI Act. This is the decision that the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) division of the state health department has reached.
On February 28, an RTI application was filed seeking copies of the MoUs signed between the state government with two insurance companies under this scheme. But the deputy secretary PM-JAY refused to part with the information claiming section 8(1) (d) and (e) of the RTI Act which says, “trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party,” and “information available to a person in fiduciary relationship.”
Since 2018, some 79.97 lakh beneficiaries have been register ..under the state-level Mukhyamantri Amrutam Yojana and some 3 .35.39 lakh claims have been placed and payments worth s 5,168 crore have been made. The beneficiaries under the state scheme were automatically ..registered under the PM-JAY scheme.“Back in 2018-19, 7.61 lakh beneficiaries had applied under ..Mukhhhyamantri Amrutam Yojana Scheme and the state government paid Rs 1,074.25 crore towards the claims.
During the financial year 2021-22, some 2.09 lakh claims have been made under the PM-JAY for which Rs 537.06 crore has been cleared. “For such a large public insurance scheme, utilises taxpayers money, the government refuses to part with the copies of the MoU it has entered into with the insurance companies. Across civic bodies and major corporations tenders and even bidding details are shared under the RTI Act, how is PM an exception,” asks RTI applicant Pankaj Bhatt, a resident of of Kalupur area.In all, 73.2 lakh beneficiaries have been enrolled under the scheme.
.JPG)
.JPG)
