Current Affairs - State - Discussion

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced exit of West Bengal from the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna due to the use of PM's picture in the official poster of the centre-state joint scheme. According to the announcement, the states are supposed to bear 40% of the project cost, while the Centre will foot 60% of the bill. Furthermore, the centre had unilaterally changed the scheme to Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana in spite of agreed efforts to retain the state sponsored health scheme name: Swasthyasathi which was launched in 2016. Thus, West Bengal joined the league of states of Telangana, Kerala, Odisha, and Delhi which have opted out of the scheme for varied reasons.