Bhopal, Dec 24 (IANS): Ayushman Bharat Yojana has done a great deal in alleviating the pains and suffering of people faced with ailments and helping the poverty-stricken families in meeting their medical expenses.

The scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018 has facilitated many poor families by providing them better treatment at private hospitals.

The scheme has a couple of beneficiaries in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol, who have benefitted hugely from the scheme and make no hesitation in praising the Prime Minister for the path-breaking initiative.

Vinay Pandey, a resident of Channaudi tehsil in the Jaitpur region of Shahdol shared with IANS, his tragic story of kidney failure and also dialysis treatment in his own city, after the roll-out of this scheme.

He said that he has been undergoing dialysis for 10 years due to kidney failure. Due to the lack of a dialysis facility in Shahdol, he had to go to Jabalpur to get his dialysis done. It would break him physically and mentally. He was facing a lot of problems because of financial constraints.

After he came to know about the Ayushman Bharat scheme, he applied for it and got his card made. Now, he is undergoing dialysis regularly at a dialysis facility in Shahdol district hospital and hence saving not just money but also on expenses. He is being provided with a free dialysis facility at the centre.

“For almost 5 years, I have been getting treatment here and also consultation of better doctors, for which I am very thankful to the Modi government,” he said.

Amit Gupta is another Shahdol local, drawing the benefits of Ayushman Bharat. Being a resident of Dhanpuri in Shahdol, he has been undergoing dialysis since 2017 due to kidney failure.

Hailing from a middle-class family, he was unable to bear expenses of Rs 20-25,000 per month at a private hospital.

He also got information about free dialysis at Shahdol District Hospital under the Ayushman Bharat. Today, he is getting a dialysis facility close to his home.

The CMO of Shahdol District Hospital Dr Rajesh Mishra said that under Ayushman Bharat, dialysis facility is provided free of cost to kidney patients.

He informed, “At present, there are 57 such beneficiaries who are continuously availing the facility of dialysis, and about 7 lakh cards of this scheme have been made, under which about 46,000 patients got their treatment through this scheme.”

He also said that the dialysis facility has been extended at night to provide treatment to those patients also, coming from far-flung areas.