With love from Rajasthan: PM Modi gets wood house gift for Ayushman Bharat

india

Updated: Oct 13, 2019 16:01 IST

Forty-year-old Niranjal Lal Jangid had heart surgery in a Jaipur hospital last year and he didn’t have to pay a penny.

Jangid and his wife say they have only Prime Minister Narendra Modi to thank for as they could afford the surgery under Ayushman Bharat, the Centre’s flagship health insurance scheme.

As a way to thank the Prime Minister, the couple from Mata Sula village of east Rajasthan’s Karauli district gifted him a miniature wood house when they were in Delhi earlier this month.

Jangid and his wife were invited to New Delhi on October 1 as one of the select beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY).

They were among those who the Prime Minister interacted with at an event organised to mark one year of Ayushman Bharat, said to be the world’s largest government-funded health insurance scheme aimed at more than 100 million poor families in the country.

Also read: Better, upgraded version of health scheme in offing

Jangid gifted the wood house to the PM after the interaction.

“I am a carpenter—I make structures from wood. I wanted to gift something to the PM because of whose policies even a poor family like us could have heart surgery in a reputed hospital,” he said.

“The Prime Minister asked us about the benefit of Ayushman Bharat scheme. He also asked us about our financial condition and source of income,” Jangid said.

The couple returned to Rajasthan on October 1 but they didn’t tell anyone about their gift to the Prime Minister until Sunday.

Also read: A year on, first person to get a golden card ‘yet to avail benefits’

“When doctors told us that my husband has a heart problem and requires surgery, we were clueless how we would be able to afford it but thanks to Modi ji, even poor families have access to health care,” Seema Devi said.

The couple has four children—two sons and two daughters.

Their eldest son, Rajendra, dropped out after Class 12 due to their financial condition. Sachin, the second son, is in Class 9 and daughters Ravina and Rekha are in Classes 10 and 8 respectively.

Devi said they recently sold a buffalo to for their children’s education because Jangid has been advised to not work for some time after the surgery.