Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda on Monday, June 8, 2026, recalled that West Bengal had flatly refused to implement the Ayushman Bharat Yojana when he urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in 2018, asserting that the scheme has now finally reached the state's residents despite that opposition.

In his post on X, Nadda wrote: 'Maine Mamata ji ko varsh 2018 mein Paschim Bengal mein Ayushman Bharat Yojana laagu karne ka aagraha kiya to unhone sire se mana kar diya tha.' ('When I urged Mamata ji to implement the Ayushman Bharat Yojana in West Bengal in 2018, she refused outright.') He further alleged that TMC leaders had torn up the scheme's forms and discarded them in drains. He concluded by saying it had been the BJP's resolve that the scheme would be implemented in West Bengal regardless, and that the people there would now benefit from it.

Context

The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) was launched by the Government of India in September 2018, offering health insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation. It is among the largest publicly funded health insurance programmes in the world by intended beneficiary count.

West Bengal was among the states that declined to join PM-JAY at launch, preferring instead to continue and expand its own Swasthya Sathi programme. The Trinamool Congress government argued that the state scheme offered comparable or broader coverage and that welfare delivery should remain within state jurisdiction.

Policy Backdrop

Centre-state friction over Ayushman Bharat has been a recurring feature of federal health policy since 2018, with several opposition-governed states opting out and retaining their own insurance frameworks. The debate reflects a deeper constitutional tension over whether large welfare programmes should be co-implemented or run in parallel at the state level.

West Bengal under the Trinamool Congress has consistently positioned its own social schemes as distinct from and competitive with central government offerings, a stance that has been a source of sustained political contestation with the BJP-led central government.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of any integration would be West Bengal's economically weaker sections who are eligible under PM-JAY's criteria, which targets low-income families identified through socio-economic data. These households would gain access to cashless treatment at any empanelled hospital across India, not just within the state.

The state health department and existing Swasthya Sathi beneficiaries would also be affected, as any formal rollout would require alignment — or at minimum, coexistence — between the two schemes' beneficiary lists, empanelled hospitals, and reimbursement structures.

What's Next

Formal state government notifications on the integration of PM-JAY with West Bengal's existing health infrastructure will be closely watched by policy observers. Any changes to Swasthya Sathi beneficiary rolls or budget allocations would signal the depth of the scheme's adoption. Nadda's statement signals that the BJP intends to make the rollout of Ayushman Bharat in West Bengal a visible political and policy achievement ahead of future electoral cycles in the state.