Policy Pipe-dreams: Smart Card is just a piece of plastic in Jharkhand

“They told me that the smart card is not working,” says Bahamuni Hembrom, who had to pay more than INR 10000 to the nursing home where she delivered her child. “When we were coming back, they took the receipt back,” her husband told Community Correspondent Chunnu Hansda.
 
CALL FOR ACTION: You can call the Civil Surgeon, Hazaribagh, at 06546 222787 and make sure people who have smart-cards don’t need to pay for their healthcare.

According to the Ministry of Labour of Employment, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) has been successfully implemented in 25 states of the country. Smart Cards were RSBY's way of providing cashless insurance of upto 30,000 INR per-year, to every family living below the poverty line. While the government is busy boasting about the "36 million families that were benefited by this scheme", Chunnu Hansda reports from Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, on how the administration has failed to implement RSBY. Like many other schemes that were designed by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to help those stuck on the lowest end of economic change, in Hazaribagh, RSBY has failed those who needed it most.

 
The report is a part of the VV-Bloomberg Project.

About the VV-Bloomberg Project: This video is a part of a special collaboration between Video Volunteers, a leading community media organization & Bloomberg, which is the premier source for global business and financial information. During this special mentoring project, five Bloomberg reporters became coaches to twelve of VV's IndiaUnheard Community Correspondents to help them produce videos on a variety of social issues. This is a one of its kind project where Bloomberg coaches, who have several years of experience working in mainstream media will share their expertise with trained grassroots journalists currently working to highlight the stories of their media dark villages. Each side will get refreshing new perspectives making for stronger journalism.
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