Transgender persons can avail of Ayushman Bharat benefits: Gauhati High Court

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court was recently informed by the Health and Family Welfare Department that eligible AADHAAR-linked NFSA transgender persons would be able to avail the medical and surgical benefits under the proposed AB-PMJAY-SMILE Transgender Swasthya Suraksha scheme, once it is launched by the government of India.

The two-judge bench of Chief Justice (Acting) Lanusungkum Jamir and Justice N. Unni Krishnan Nair said this in connection with a PIL (Case no. 74/2018) filed by transgender activist and lawyer Swati Bidhan Baruah regarding the eligibility of transgender persons to avail benefits under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) scheme, a Central Government Health Assurance Scheme.

The bench made the observation based on the submission by D. P. Borah, the standing counsel of the Health and Family Welfare Department, during which he produced a letter written by the Chief

Executive Officer, Atal Amrit Abhiyan Society, containing certain instructions that AB-PMJAY provides cashless medical benefits up to Rs. 5 lakh per family per year in AB-PMJAY empaneled hospitals to AADHAAR-linked National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries as per defined medical and surgical packages under the Scheme.

Also, any person included under NFSA and in possession of an AADHAAR card is eligible to avail of the cashless medical benefits under AB-PMJAY, and the eligible AADHAAR-linked NFSA transgender persons are also included in the ambit of the scheme.

Advocate Borah also referred to a communication by the National Health Authority (NHA) in which it was stated that the NHA and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, are planning to extend comprehensive healthcare benefits to transgender persons under the broad name of the "AB-PMJAY-SMILE Transgender Swasthya Suraksha" Scheme. This scheme intends to provide healthcare benefits up to Rs. 5.0 lakh per beneficiary per year to all transgender persons living across the country.

It was also stated that AB-PMJAY-SMILE covers treatment based on AB-PMJAY health benefit packages along with an additional 50 specific packages related to Sex Re-assignment Surgery (SRS).

Moreover, he said that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has identified 149 hospitals across the country that offer SRS treatment facilities, and steps are being taken to onboard such hospitals to ensure the availability of SRS packages for beneficiaries of AB-PMJAY-SMILE.

Gauhati Medical College & Hospital is included among the 149 listed hospitals.

It was also stated that the scheme is in the process of being launched, and all transgender persons holding a certificate from the National Portal for Transgender Persons will be able to benefit from the scheme once it is launched by the NHA.

Also, R. K. Dev Choudhury, Deputy Solicitor General of India, had prayed for some time to enable him to receive instructions as to how the Union of India was going to address the said issue.

The HC bench allowed the prayer and asked the matter to be listed after two weeks.

It should be mentioned here that the petitioner filed the PIL after some transgender persons were denied the benefits under AB-PMJAY at Gauhati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH) on the ground that they did not possess ration cards.

A two-judge bench, while hearing the PIL on October 13, 2023, asked the standing counsel of Health & Family Welfare to take instructions on the contentions of the petitioner and submit the response of the authority concerned by the next date. He was also directed to appraise the court regarding the steps taken at the Gauhati Medical College & Hospital regarding compliance with the mandate of Section 5 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.

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