Lok Sabha Question No. 889 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-07
Subject: CAG Report on Beneficiaries under AB-PMJAY
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Anand Bhadauria

## GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRYOF HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 889 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07 TH FEBRUARY, 2025

## CAG REPORT ON BENEFICIARIES UNDER AB-PMJAY

## 889. SHRIANANDBHADAURIA:

Will the Minister of HEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the CAG report of 2023 noted that almost 7.5 lakh beneficiaries under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) scheme were linked to single mobile number;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
- (c) whether the CAG report has also identified 4,761 registrations that were linked to only seven Aadhaar numbers, indicating potential irregularities;
- (d) if so, the details of inquiries initiated and the outcome thereof in this regard; and
- (e) the details of action taken against the culprits including guilty hospitals, till date, Statewise?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV)

(a) to (e): The CAG report in question pertains to FY 2018-21. The CAG report has mentioned that a large number of beneficiaries registered against a single mobile number. Before August 2022, in the Beneficiary Identification System (BIS), used for generating Ayushman cards, mobile number was a mandatory field and in cases where individuals did not have their own mobile number, the operators authorised to create cards, chose to enter their own mobile number or a random 10-digit number. However, mobile number is not a basis for determining eligibility and creating an Ayushman card. Ayushman cards are issued only after Aadhaar e-KYC of a beneficiary. The State/UT-wise details of such cases are at Annexure .

Further, a new version of BIS has been launched wherein mobile number has been made optional and necessary validations of mobile number have been put in place.

With respect to 4,761 registrations linked to seven Aadhaar numbers, it is highlighted that the CAG report pertains to FY 2018-21, during which Government of Tamil Nadu was using their State system for beneficiary identification. CAG highlighted cases from this system where Aadhaar was manually entered against the beneficiaries without Aadhaar authentication, which resulted in multiple beneficiaries getting linked with same/erroneous Aadhaar numbers.

The State of Tamil Nadu has since migrated to the NHA's BIS system for beneficiary verification. NHA ' s BIS ensures multiple validations such as de-duplication, correctness of Aadhaar etc. and Ayushman card is generated only after Aadhaar e-KYC.

Further, after receipt of the said Report, NHA conducted an exercise for checking all of its beneficiary database for duplicate Aadhaar number and no such duplicate Aadhaar has been found. Thus, there are no irregularities in the validation of beneficiaries whether related to multiple beneficiaries linked to same mobile numbers or multiple registrations against single Aadhaar number in NHA IT system.

State/UT-wise details of cases where multiple beneficiaries registered against a single mobile number

| State / UT        | Number of beneficiaries   |
|-------------------|---------------------------|
| Assam             | 74                        |
| Bihar             | 34,057                    |
| Chandigarh        | 2                         |
| Chhattisgarh      | 5,576                     |
| Goa               | 5                         |
| Gujarat           | 58,060                    |
| Haryana           | 13,555                    |
| Himachal Pradesh  | 2,892                     |
| Jammu And Kashmir | 32,900                    |
| Jharkhand         | 98,622                    |
| Kerala            | 1,48,581                  |
| Madhya Pradesh    | 1,28,804                  |
| Maharashtra       | 57,419                    |
| Meghalaya         | 69,337                    |
| Mizoram           | 58                        |
| Nagaland          | 2                         |
| Puducherry        | 2,735                     |
| Punjab            | 30,001                    |
| DNH&DD            | 2,285                     |
| Tripura           | 2,687                     |
| Uttar Pradesh     | 75,240                    |
| Uttarakhand       | 14,571                    |

Note: Figures are of States/UTs operating on NHA ' s BIS 1.0 system at the time of CAG audit (2018-21).

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