Daily Briefing: Ayushman health cards for 70-plus; political roadmap for Census; Maharashtra poll fever

The Chinese band Varihnaz during their first show of a national tour in Guilin, China on September 27, 2024. (The New York Times)

With that, let’s move on to today’s edition:

• Extending the central health scheme
• Poll fever takes over Maharashtra
• India’s redemption plan in Mumbai

🚨 Big Story

In a big move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday launched health cards under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) to provide health coverage to people aged 70 years and above, regardless of their income and economic status. The beneficiaries will be entitled to a cover of Rs 5 lakh annually, shared within the family. How can you sign-up? Why is it significant?

Politics in the way: As Delhi and West Bengal continue to remain outside the health coverage scheme, PM Modi apologised to older people in these two states for being unable to help them. He said, “I apologise to the people over 70 years from Delhi and West Bengal that I will not be able to serve you. I apologise because I will come to know that you are suffering — I will get the information — but I will not be able to help you… because of politics. I am pained.”

‘A failed initiative’: Responding to Modi’s apology, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj called it a “failed initiative” and told The Indian Express that the AAP government has no intention of adopting the scheme. He said that Delhi did not need the scheme since its own schemes cover everyone. The former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal added that it was not right to politicise people’s health.

⚡ Only in Express

‘Muslims, Dalits will return to us…’: As the seat-share of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) dropped from 6.92 per cent in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections to 2.77 per cent in 2024, party chief Prakash Ambedkar attributes this to the shift of minorities and Dalits towards the INDIA bloc because they saw the Constitution under threat. In an interview to The Indian Express, Ambedkar expressed his hope that these communities will support the VBA in the November 20 Assembly elections and said that the demand to “save” reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) will be a major poll issue.

A roadmap for delimitation: As the Centre prepares to start the much-delayed Census next year and end it by 2026, there exists two important upshots of the exercise — the delimitation of constituencies, and the implementation of the reservation for women in elected bodies. The timeline of the delimitation exercise is significant as the number of Parliamentary seats are likely to increase substantially, depending on increasing population, which is the basis of dividing territorial constituencies. What are the political challenges to the exercise? How will women’s reservations be impacted? We explain.

📰 From the Front Page

The Way Out: Following the nationwide furore over the recent National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) paper leak, a committee was set up to look into reforms required to prevent such happenings. Now, the panel has come up with suggestions — holding entrance exams online wherever possible and using a hybrid model, where question papers are transmitted digitally but answered on paper, if needed; conducting a multi-stage exam for medical aspirants; rationalising the choice of subjects under the Central University Entrance Test; and staffing the National Testing Agency with more permanent personnel to manage these changes effectively.

Poll Drama: It was straight out of a movie sequence in Jharkhand when the proposer of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was chased down in a vehicle and detained by the police. You must also be wondering, why a proper? Here’s what happened. Although the job of a “proposer” ends with signing poll nomination papers, here, he has come to almost overshadow a candidate. On Sunday afternoon, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha went into panic over apprehension that the proposer of Chief Minister Hemant Soren was hobnobbing with the BJP. Finally, even the Chief Election Commissioner had to get involved with Rajiv Kumar pulling up the Jharkhand Chief Secretary and DGP over the incident.

📌 Must Read

The AI Wave: Everyone seems to be riding the artificial intelligence (AI) wave and banks, too, did not want to feel left out. From chatbots to annual reports, banks, in the last few years, have been dovetailing AI and machine learning tools progressively into core operations. The usage of AI related keywords in the annual reports of private sector banks has evidently shot up nearly six-fold in the 2022-23 reports as compared to 2015-16 levels, while even for public sector banks, the emphasis on technologies such as AI in their annual reports has increased more than three times between 2015-16 and 2022-23. Does this rapid embrace of AI tools pose a risk? The Reserve Bank of India does seem to think so, with its governor asserting that “the heavy reliance of AI can lead to concentration risks, especially when a small number of technology providers dominate the market”.

🤝 Dosti bani rahe: Nominations have closed for the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Surprisingly, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Opposition alliance found itself in friendly fights in at least seven Assembly constituencies while the Mahayuti is facing a similar situation in at least five seats. Of the 288 Assembly seats, the Mahayuti constituents have divided 284 seats among themselves and left four for smaller allies. In the MVA, the Congress has emerged as the biggest party with 101 seats in its share, followed by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) with 96 seats and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) with 87 seats, leaving two seats each for the Samajwadi Party and the CPI(M).

In today’s Opinion section, C Raja Mohan writes about Donald Trump and the ongoing US Presidential campaign. “The enduring influence of his approach, regardless of the election outcome, signals a fundamental shift in how the US engages with the world. For global observers and stakeholders, it is crucial to understand these changes,” he writes.

⏳ And Finally…

In an attempt to redeem themselves following consecutive losses in Kanpur and Pune, the Indian team management has requested the Mumbai Cricket Association for a “rank turner” for the third and final Test that begins from Friday. What does this mean? It means that the team management has requested to prepare a pitch which can help spinners from day 1. “It seems the team wants to go on a tried and tested formula,” a source told The Indian Express.

With Diwali round the corner, in today’s edition of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we give simple tips for a healthy festive season. Tune in now!

That’s all for today.

Until next time,
Ariba and Rounak Bagchi

Business As Usual by E P Unny