PM Modi's healthcare scheme Ayushman Bharat on shaky ground in Panipat

The second of a 4-part series reports on Haryana's preparedness for the proposed mega health protection scheme

Satish Kumar, a plumber and part-time farmer in Panipat, Haryana, had been feeling a niggling pain in his chest for days. His neighbourhood doctor said that he could be suffering from a blocked artery and that he might need a stent implant. The doctor advised Kumar to go to the Civil Hospital and get registered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme so his surgery would be free.  The city’s main government hospital is one of the many chosen for a pilot of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s grand universal healthcare scheme which is set to roll out on September 25.

However, when