Ayushman Bharat, women aid, Yamuna riverfront top BJP’s agenda in Delhi

Over the past year, Lieutenant-Governor V K Saxena as well as the bureaucracy had  written to the Chief Minister and Health Minister several times with a plan to adopt the Centre’s flagship health insurance scheme.

In January last year, Saxena wrote to then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, urging him to implement the Ayushman Bharat Scheme soon. In December, the Delhi High Court directed the AAP government to sign an MoU with the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to implement the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM). The AAP government filed a plea in the Supreme Court against the order and it was stayed.

“Now that there will be no objection from the elected government, the insurance scheme as well as the infrastructure schemes will be implemented very quickly. The officers already have the drafts ready as they were trying to convince the AAP government to implement them,” an official said.

Also, the previous AAP government’s last Cabinet meeting passed a scheme to give women Rs 1,000. This will require only a few tweaks to implement the BJP’s promise of Rs 2,500 financial aid per month to women, officers said.

The Yamuna beautification project, which has been under discussion for at least a decade now, is trickier. “The L-G had announced in 2023 that the Millennium Bus Depot, which is built on the floodplain, will be redeveloped along the lines of the Sabarmati waterfront. That project is expected to be revived since it is achievable in a relatively short time and planning is already at an advanced stage,” a source said.

Apart from these, visible push to tangible urban development is likely to be a priority area, alongside the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to rehabilitate slum dwellers, according to party sources.

Large projects likely to be announced are the procurement of 10,000 buses to replace the ailing DTC’s fleet and a plan to overhaul the city’s road infrastructure.

Apart from filling of potholes, a comprehensive review of the road infrastructure – identification of dark spots with an emphasis on women safety, traffic bottlenecks and areas deficient in parking spots — could feature in the urban push, said a senior party leader.

“The Ayushman Bharat scheme, Yamuna cleaning, financial assistance to women and a more efficient transport system are priorities. The process to induct new buses will start… These are four schemes that will be taken up immediately after forming the government and will be passed in the first Cabinet meeting of the BJP government. Other routine works such as repairing works will be taken up and also these are routine repairs which should have been done by the previous government,” said a senior BJP leader.