NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has identified shortcomings in the execution of the Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) strategy within the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), according to its latest performance audit report.

The AB-PMJAY initiative offers health coverage of up to Rs 5 lakhs per family annually, focusing on secondary and tertiary care hospitalization services. The scheme ensures beneficiaries have seamless, cashless, and paperless access to medical services.

In a recently presented audit report on AB-PMJAY in Parliament, the CAG unveiled that the National Health Authority (NHA) disbursed Rs 64.07 crore between 2018 and 2021 for IEC endeavors. However, the report noted that the absence of a dedicated budget for these activities prevented a verification of whether expenses adhered to prescribed budget limits.

Crucially, the NHA failed to provide comprehensive information and records detailing the IEC plan's scope and implementation status at the central level. Consequently, the audit couldn't ascertain if planned IEC activities were methodically executed or if projected targets were achieved.

Similarly, the report highlighted the lack of insight into the monitoring mechanism for IEC activities across different states in India at the central level. The audit could not confirm whether the NHA effectively oversaw state-level IEC initiatives aimed at enhancing beneficiary awareness, scheme enrollment, and coverage.

In certain states, such as Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, dedicated IEC cells were established. In contrast, 12 states, including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Rajasthan, and Tripura, lacked such cells. The status of the remaining states remained undisclosed.

Additionally, the audit unveiled that several states, namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, and Uttar Pradesh, reported IEC expenditures ranging from zero to 20.24 percent of the allocated budget. This figure fell below the recommended threshold of 25 percent.

In light of these findings, the audit report emphasized the need for the NHA to actively engage with entitled beneficiaries and raise awareness about the scheme. It also underlined the necessity for State Health Agencies (SHAS) to commit sufficient resources to IEC activities, ensuring comprehensive awareness generation for the program.

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