With the Centre’s flagship health insurance taking fire over irregularities exposed by the Comptroller and Auditor General this week, the Health Ministry defended the scheme on Wednesday, saying that mobile numbers did not play any role in the verification of scheme beneficiaries.
The CAG’s performance audit report, tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday, noted multiple cases of the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) providing treatment for patients who had already been declared dead, as well as for thousands of people using the same Aadhaar number or invalid mobile phone number.
