Congress President Rahul Gandhi announced that the party is considering inclusion of a Right to Healthcare Act in its manifesto for the upcoming elections which will guarantee minimum healthcare to all.
While interacting medical professionals during the concluding session of the two-day national convention on Health today, he also criticized the Ayushman Bharat flagship health scheme of BJP while terming it as a hand-out to 15-20 select businessmen of the nation.
He said that 3 things are under consideration:
Including the Right to Healthcare Act, increasing healthcare expenditure to 3% of the GDP and increase in the number of doctors and healthcare professionals.
He asserted that if his party will be elected to power, their focus will be increasing the expenditure on healthcare and education.
He pointed out the three key issues of a 21st-century government as Employment, Education, and Healthcare.
Pointing out to the Ayushman Bharat scheme, he said that he perceives it as a limited scheme that is targeting a very limited number of healthcare issues. He also added that it is a handout to the 15-20 richest businessmen in the country.
He further criticized the scheme saying that it gives insurance without any proper support structure from the hospital and medical professionals.
Gandhi claimed that he willing to take expenditure on education to 5 to 6 percent of the GDP.