West Bengal Becomes 36th State/UT to Implement Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY
West Bengal has formally joined the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), becoming the 36th and final state or Union Territory to implement the flagship health insurance scheme, t
What happened
West Bengal has formally joined the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), becoming the 36th and final state or Union Territory to implement the flagship health insurance scheme, thereby achieving complete national coverage. PM-JAY, launched in 2018 under the National Health Authority (NHA), provides health cover of up to ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation to economically vulnerable households identified through SECC data. West Bengal had previously operated its own state scheme, 'Swasthya Sathi', and had long resisted joining PM-JAY, citing concerns over fund-sharing norms and administrative autonomy. The state's inclusion marks a significant milestone in cooperative federalism and the Centre's push for universal health coverage, potentially extending benefits to crores of additional beneficiaries in one of India's most populous states. For UPSC, this development is relevant to social justice, federalism, health governance, and the architecture of centrally sponsored schemes.
Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY is the world's largest government-funded health assurance scheme, administered by the National Health Authority (NHA) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
●It covers over 55 crore beneficiaries (approximately 12 crore families) identified through SECC 2011 data, offering ₹5 lakh per family per year for hospitalisation.
●The scheme follows a co-funding model between Centre and states (60:40 for general states; 90:10 for special category states). West Bengal's Swasthya Sathi scheme, launched in 2016, provided ₹5 lakh cover per family but was state-funded.
●With West Bengal's inclusion, PM-JAY achieves pan-India implementation — a landmark for universal health coverage under the Sustainable Development Goal 3.8.
●Beneficiaries are identified via PM-JAY e-cards and can avail cashless treatment at empanelled public and private hospitals.
West Bengal's joining completes PM-JAY's pan-India rollout, making it the world's largest government health assurance scheme with universal state-level participation — a landmark for India's universal health coverage ambitions.
◎ In Simple Words
Imagine a giant health insurance card that the government gives to poor families so they can get treated at hospitals for free — that is what Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY does, covering up to ₹5 lakh per family every year. West Bengal is the last state in India to join this scheme, meaning now every single state and Union Territory in the country is part of it. West Bengal had its own health scheme called Swasthya Sathi and did not want to join PM-JAY for a long time, like a student who preferred their own notebook over the school's. Now that West Bengal has joined, millions more poor families across India can access better hospital care under one national umbrella.
Factual Pointers
Practice · 1 question
With West Bengal's inclusion in Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY in June 2026, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. PM-JAY now covers all 28 states and 8 Union Territories of India.
2. The scheme provides health cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation.
3. Beneficiaries under PM-JAY are identified using the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data.
4. PM-JAY is administered by the National Health Authority under the Ministry of Finance.
Select the correct answer using the codes below: