According to a circular issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, the Modi government’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana is targeted to benefit 10.74 crore poor, deprived rural families and identified occupational category of urban workers’ families. The circular further states that the scheme’s beneficiaries will be determined as per the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011. The SECC 2011 is a study of the socio-economic status of rural and urban households based on predefined parameters and it has been conducted under the aegis of the Department of Rural Development.
As per the SECC 2011, certain households will be automatically excluded from coverage under the scheme. These are households having two or more motorised wheelers or fishing boats, households having three-four mechanised wheeler agricultural equipment, households having kisan credit card with credit limit above Rs 50,000, households having a government employee, households with non-agricultural enterprises registered with the government, households with any member earning more than Rs 10,000 per month, households paying income tax, households paying professional tax, houses with three or more rooms with pucca walls and roof, houses which own a refrigerator, or a landline phone, or more than 2.5 acres of irrigated land with one irrigation equipment, or 5 acres or more of irrigated land for two or more crop seasons, at least 7.5 acres of land with at least one irrigation equipment.
The long list of excluded households gives the impression that most households will remain excluded from the scope of the scheme and its intended benefits may accrue only to a handful of households. Since the SECC was conducted in 2011, states have been advised to look out for instances where the names of those who are automatically excluded as per SECC 2011 figure in the list of beneficiaries. In such cases, the district collectors and district magistrates must exclude such beneficiaries from the eligibility list. For more details, refer the circular below.
—India Legal Bureau