The Ayushman Bharat’s flagship initiative, Prime Minister Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) has faced significant disruption in Gujarat due to a server system failure affecting the operations of both government and private hospitals. A government officer said they were confident to address the issue and that PM-JAY would begin functioning normally latest by midnight.
Sources claimed that the BJP-ruled Gujarat government has outsourced the operations and the private operator was responsible for the online disorder that resulted in thousands of operations being delayed.
Shaktisinh Gohil, the Gujarat Congress state president, has condemned the situation, asserting that patients have been stranded because of the PM-JAY system’s failure. “Specific issues, such as discrepancies in patient fingerprint matching, have further complicated the approval process,” he alleged.
Gohil urged hospitals to provide offline approvals when the server fails to prevent patients from suffering additional hardships.
The outage has led to delays in treatment for thousands of patients reliant on the scheme as hospitals struggle to process claims and obtain necessary approvals.
When contacted, SAL Hospital AGM (PR) Uma Bakshi told Vibes of India, “On Monday, the servers were down the whole day. We contacted the government official multiple times and got assurances. Today, also, the website stopped in between for a few times, and we restarted it. We attempted to continue the operations as usual. Nearly seven to eight patients have faced difficulty due to this. Moreover, we provided every possible help.”
The PM-JAY initiative provides a cover of Rs 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation across public and private empanelled hospitals across the country.
Reports indicate that the system failure has severely impacted essential medical procedures, including angiography, angioplasty, and coronary bypass surgeries. Many operations have been postponed, leaving patients in distress.
“I am still admitted to the hospital just because of this server issue. The administration is not receiving the required discharge approval. I was scheduled to get discharged two days ago but could not. I am still hopeful and waiting to go to my home. My family is waiting for me. I want to meet my children,” said one of the patients.
In response to the crisis, the Gujarat Health Department has assured the public that the system has resumed functioning and that all pending applications will be processed swiftly. Hospitals have been instructed to expedite their operations to alleviate any further distress among patients.
The implications of the PM-JAY system failure extend beyond healthcare facilities, affecting other government departments that rely on digital services.
Observers have noted that the government’s digital infrastructure appears overwhelmed, with similar issues arising during online processes, such as filing income tax returns.
There are 2,615 hospitals, including 868 private and 1,747 government facilities, under the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the state.
Since the financial year 2020-21, over 3 million patients have been admitted to these hospitals using the scheme. The government has allocated significant funds to support the PMJAY in Gujarat, with allocations ranging from Rs 99.84 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 267.48 crore in 2023-24.
Also Read: Gujarat: Cong Leaders Highlight ‘Shakti Abhiyan’, Indira Fellowship to Empower Women in Politics
