AB-PMJAY IEC plan not implemented properly: CAG

New Delhi: In its performance audit report on Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) highlighted deficiencies in implementation of the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) plan under the scheme.

The AB-PMJAY provides a health cover up to Rs 5 lakhs per family per year, for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation services. It provides cashless and paperless access to services for the beneficiaries at the point of service. The CAG’s audit report on AB-PMJAY which was presented in Parliament recently, revealed that in between 2018-21, the National Health Authority (NHA) had spent Rs 64.07 crore for IEC activities . “During 2018-19 to 2020-21, NHA has incurred an expenditure of 64.07 crore on IEC activities. However, NHA did not allot a specific budget for these activities, in the absence of which audit could not verify whether the expenditure was within the prescribed budget ceiling.

“The NHA did not provide any details and records about a comprehensive IEC plan and its implementation status at the Central level. In the absence of these details and records, audit could not verify whether IEC activities were carried out at the central level in a planned manner and how far the planned targets were achieved,” the report added.