The RSBY scheme has 1,020 surgical packages including maternity and newborn care and covers transportation costs with a maximum limit of Rs 1,000

GUWAHATI, With an aim to attract more people to the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has decided to increase the information education communication (IEC) and capacity building activities among the BPL population.

RSBY is a smart card based cashless health insurance policy. The objective of the scheme is to protect BPL households and other identified categories from major health problems that require hospitalization. When the scheme was launched in 2009, it covered only five districts of Assam. In 2012, however, the scheme was extended to 24 districts of the state. Till date the scheme has covered around 38,63,091 people.

An NRHM official said: "Given that the RSBY has been newly launched, a large number of people know very little about it. So far about 60 to 70 per cent of people have availed the benefits of the scheme which, in deed, is good. But we expect more people to be attracted to it. That's the reason we've decided to increase the awareness activities so that more people avail benefits of the scheme. We expect that by next year more people will be enrolled under the scheme."

The NRHM official said the beneficiaries have to pay only Rs 30 as registration fee per year to get the card. It covers hospitalization expenses of Rs 30,000 for up to five family members. The scheme also has 1,020 surgical packages including maternity and newborn care. It also covers transportation costs with a maximum limit of Rs 1,000.

The official informed that in order to facilitate the service delivery in public hospitals, the NRHM has provided infrastructure and manpower for helpdesks set up in as many as 140 public empanelled hospitals. The grievances redressal committees have been formed in 23 districts of the state, he said adding that the NRHM has also placed advertisements in newspapers and TV regarding the programme.