Government’s social welfare and health schemes – are you eligible?

The government has continuously introduced effective and beneficial schemes in the fields of health and social welfare. These schemes are designed to meet the requirement of specific groups of people, who according to the government needs it most. 

Considering the ongoing health and economic crisis the world is facing, the need for these social welfare and government health insurance schemes is more pertinent than ever. 

Let us look at the eligibility of some of the popular health and social welfare schemes of India.

Government health insurance schemes

1. Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY): The scheme is targeted to cover the 10.74 crores poor, deprived rural families as well as those identified under the occupational category of urban worker’s families as per the Socio and Economic Caste Census (SECC) data in 2011.

The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) in particular offers cashless health insurance cover (family floater) of Rs 5 lakh per family to almost 50 crore citizens of the country. To ensure adequate medical facilities for all citizens during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health has empaneled over 20,000 public and private hospitals across the country to provide inpatient services to the beneficiaries of AB-PMJAY

Visit: mera.pmjay.gov.in

Related: Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana: What you need to know 

2. Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY): Provides insurance coverage to the head or earning member of a family (close to the poverty line) and is involved in any one of the 48 vocations like carpentry, fishing, handloom weaving, etc. defined under the eligibility. 

The AABY provides a death and disability cover of Rs 30,000 for an annual premium of Rs 320. The policy holder pays Rs 200 and the government sponsors the rest. 

The AABY is administered by State Governments hence to apply a citizen will have to get in touch with the local Nodal officer or allocated NGO.

For Maharashtra visit: https://sjsa.maharashtra.gov.in/mr/scheme-category/special-assistance

3. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana: Individuals in the age group of 18-50 years having a bank account are eligible for this scheme. 

Visit: www.jansuraksha.gov.in 

4. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana: Individuals within the age group of 18-70 years having a bank account with banks who are registered under the scheme are eligible for this scheme. 

Visit: www.jansuraksha.gov.in 

5. Bima Yojana for Handicraft Artisans: Master craftsperson who is the recipient of Shilp Guru Awards, National Awards of Merit Certificates or State Awards in Handicrafts are people who are eligible for financial assistance under this scheme. The applicant should not be a recipient of similar financial assistance from any other source. The artisan should not be less than 60 years of age on the date of application. Age may be relaxed in case of artisans with disabilities. 

Visit: www.artisan.gov.in

6. Rajiv Gandhi Shilpi Swasthya Bima Yojana: The insurance scheme is for handicraft artisans with an annual limit on member per family (1+4) (includes self, spouse and three dependent family members). 

Annual assistance per family is mentioned as below:

• IPD- Rs. 30,000
• OPD- Rs. 7,500

All family members, newborn to 80 years, are eligible to be covered under the scheme. 

Visit: www.craftmark.org/rajiv-gandhi-shilpi-swasthya-bima-yojan

7. Health Insurance Scheme for handloom weavers: For availing the benefits under the ‘Health Insurance Scheme for handloom weavers’ (people engaged in warping, winding, dyeing, printing, finishing, sizing, Jhala making, Jacquard cutting etc.) the weaver should fulfil the following conditions:

• At least 50% of the weaver’s income must be from handloom weaving.
• Male and female weavers and their family of four- self, spouse and two children, between the age group of 1 day to 80 years, are eligible for the scheme.

The annual limit per family is Rs. 15,000

Visit: handlooms.nic.in 

Related: Senior citizen savings scheme: Why it makes a good addition to retirement planning 

Social welfare schemes

1. Atal Pension Yojana: Atal Pension Yojana can be availed by all citizens aged between 18-40 year who holds a bank account and is not a member of any statutory social security schemes. 

Visit: www.pfrda.org.in 

2. PM Ujjwala Yojana: Any woman from a Below Poverty Line household can apply for a new LPG connection to the nearest LPG distributor along with her detailed address, Jandhan Bank Account and Aadhar number of all members of the household.

Visit: www.pmujjwalayojana.com 

3. National Family Benefit Scheme: This is a financial assistance scheme, available to the woman homemaker in the family, provided the main breadwinner of the family had deceased between the ages of 18 and 60. The family must be living under the poverty line. 

Visit: transformingindia.mygov.in 

4. Mudra Yojana: Any Indian citizen with a non-farming business plan into an activity like manufacturing, processing, trading or service sector and a credit requirement of less than Rs. 10 lakh, classified as follows:

• Shishu: covering loans up to Rs 50,000
• Kishore: covering loans above Rs 50,000 and up to Rs 5,00,000
• Tarun: covering loans above Rs 5,00,000 and up to Rs 10,00,000

A citizen can approach either a public or private bank, MFI, or NBFC for availing a Mudra Yojana loan, which can be in the form of vehicle loans, business installment loan or rural business credit 

Visit: www.mudra.org.in

5. Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana: To apply for new Jan Aushadhi stores any organisation / reputed NGOs / Trusts / Private hospitals / charitable institutions / Doctors / Unemployed pharmacist/ individual entrepreneurs are eligible, provided the applicants have one B Pharma / D Pharma degree holder as Pharmacist in their proposed store. 

Visit: janaushadhi.gov.in 

6. Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana: Is a scheme aimed at providing social security to senior citizens by offering a pension based on a guaranteed rate of return. 

Subscribers can earn a minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000 on a lumpsum payment of Rs 1.5 lakh or minimum monthly pension of Rs 5,000 on a lumpsum payment of Rs 7.5 lakh.

Under the scheme, one has to fulfil the following conditions to be eligible for the 10-year policy term - Minimum Entry Age- 60 years, Maximum Entry Age- No limit. 

Visit: www.licindia.in 

Related: PMVVY: All You Need To Know About The Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana

Have a look at 7 other government schemes to aid economic development and financial stability that you can benefit from. 

Women-centric schemes

1. Nai Roshni: Scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women. The scheme is targeted to cover women belonging to Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Zoroastrian (Parsi) and Jain communities. 

Visit: nairoshni-moma.gov.in 

2. One-Stop Centre: One-stop centres spread across the country provide integrated support and assistance to women including girls below the age of 18 years. These are women afflicted by violence irrespective of caste, class, religion, sexual orientation or marital status. Institutions and authorities established under Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection Act) 2000 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 will have linkage with these one-stop centres. (https://merisarkarmeredwar.in/ )

3. Working Women Hostel: The scheme is intended to benefit working women;

• Who may be single, widowed, divorced, separated or married but whose husband or immediate family reside in a different location? Preference may be given to disadvantaged sections of the society and working women who are physically challenged.
• Who are undergoing training are also eligible for this scheme provided the total training period is below 1 year.
• Girls up to the age of 18 years and boys up to the age of 5 years will also be provided accommodation along with their working mothers. Besides, the daycare centre facility can also be availed under this scheme. 

Visit: wcd.nic.in

Related: Government schemes that can help women entrepreneurs in India grow their small businesses 

4. Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana: The scheme is intended to benefit pregnant women and lactating mother:

• Except those who are in regular employment with the Central Government or the State Governments or PSUs or those who are receiving similar benefits under any law for the time being in force.
• Who have had their first pregnancy on or after 01.01.2017 are also eligible for this scheme.

Visit: http://mpwcdmis.gov.in/

5.Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women: The scheme is intended to benefit women who are in the age group of 16 years and above across the country. 

Visit: wcd.nic.in 

6.Swadhar: The benefit of the component could be availed by women above 18 years of age of the following categories:

• Women who have been deserted and don’t have any social and economic support.
• Women survivors of natural disasters who have become homeless as a result and don’t have any social and economic support.
• Women prisoners released from jail and are without family, social and economic support.
• Women victims of domestic violence, family tussle or dispute, who had to leave home and are without any subsistence. They are unprotected from exploitation and/ or facing litigation on account of marital disputes. 
• Trafficked women or girls rescued or escaped from brothels or other places of exploiting nature and Women affected by HIV/AIDS.
• Women affected by domestic violence could stay up to one year while other categories can stay up to 3 years. The older women above the 55 years of age can stay up to 5 years after which they are to be shifted to old age homes or similar institutions.
• Girls up to the age of 18 years and boys up to the age of 8 years can stay in the Swadhar Greh with their mothers.

Visit: wcd.nic.in 

7. Nari Shakti Puraskar: This is open to all Indian institutions, organisations and individuals irrespective of race, caste or creed. However, in the case of the individual category, the awardee must be above 30 years of age, a first-time winner and should have worked in the relevant field for at least the last 5 years. 

Visit: wcd.nic.in 

15. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana: Is a small deposit scheme that aims to meet the education and marriage expenses of the girl child as a part of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign. You can invest anywhere between rs 250 to Rs 1.5 lakh in a financial year and the deposits have to be made for 15 years from the date of opening the account. From the 15th till 21st year no deposits have to be made but the corpus continues to earn interest.

For this scheme, any resident Indian girl child up to the age of 10 years is eligible until the maturity/closure of the account opened under the scheme. 

Visit: www.nari.nic.in 

Related: Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme: What is it and how it benefits the girl child? 

In closing

Economic and social welfare is something the government constantly works towards. While the government health insurance schemes aim to improve the accessibility and quality of health care in the country, the social welfare schemes aim to improve the quality of life and create equal opportunities for all Indian citizens.