CDS (I) 2020 General Knowledge · Question 71 of 120

Correct — D, The scheme provides a benefit cover of ₹ 10 lakh per family. That is the one statement the scheme does not support. Ayushman Bharat's insurance arm, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, gives a cover of ₹ 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation — a family floater, so the amount is shared across the household rather than given to each member. The figure of ten lakh doubles it and is the planted error. The other three statements are genuine design features. There is no restriction on family size, age or gender, which is what distinguishes the scheme from earlier health-insurance products that capped the household at five members. Pre-hospitalisation expenses for three days and post-hospitalisation for fifteen days, including diagnostics and medicines, are covered. And a defined transport allowance per hospitalisation is paid to the beneficiary, a small but deliberate provision aimed at the poorest households for whom the fare to a district hospital is itself a barrier.

• (a)There is no cap on family size and age. — This is a real feature, so it cannot be the answer. The scheme was designed with no restriction on family size, age or gender — a break from the earlier RSBY, which covered a household of five.
• (b)The scheme includes pre- and post-hospitalization expenses. — Also genuine. Three days of pre-hospitalisation and fifteen days of post-hospitalisation expenses are covered, including diagnostics and the cost of medicines.
• (c)A defined transport allowance per hospitalization will also be paid to the beneficiary. — Genuine, and the one candidates most often doubt. A defined transport allowance per hospitalisation is part of the package, because travel cost is a real deterrent for the households the scheme targets.

Ayushman Bharat, announced in 2018, has two components: health and wellness centres built on existing sub-centres and primary health centres, and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, a cashless hospitalisation cover. PM-JAY was launched on 23 September 2018 at Ranchi. It is a centrally sponsored scheme, cost-shared between the Centre and the States, and it is entitlement-based rather than contributory — a household does not pay a premium but must appear in the deprivation criteria drawn from the socio-economic census.

Three of the four statements are unremarkable, so the item comes down to recognising a wrong number, which is how scheme questions are most often built. The safe anchor is the phrase used in every official description of PM-JAY: five lakh rupees per family per year. Two nuances protect against related traps — the cover is per family and not per person, and it is per year rather than a lifetime limit. Anchoring to the February 2020 exam matters here, because the scheme has since been widened: from September 2024 every citizen aged 70 and above was brought in irrespective of income, with a separate top-up cover of five lakh rupees for that age group which they need not share with the rest of the family. That is an addition for the elderly, not a doubling of the base cover, which remains five lakh.

• PM-JAY provides a cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation, and was launched on 23 September 2018 at Ranchi.
• There is no restriction on family size, age or gender.
• Three days of pre-hospitalisation and fifteen days of post-hospitalisation expenses are covered, including diagnostics and medicines.
• A defined transport allowance per hospitalisation is payable to the beneficiary.
• From September 2024 the scheme was extended to all citizens aged 70 and above regardless of income, with an additional ₹5 lakh cover for that group that is not shared with other family members.

• Reading the cover as per person; it is a family floater of ₹5 lakh a year.
• Confusing the 2024 extension for citizens aged 70 and above, which adds a separate ₹5 lakh cover, with a rise in the base amount.
• Mixing up PM-JAY, the insurance arm, with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, which is a health-records platform.

As a which-is-NOT-a-feature item built on one wrong number, or as statements about coverage, eligibility and the funding pattern.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, the benefit cover of ₹5 lakh is provided

  • (a)per person per year
  • (b)per family per year
  • (c)per family once in a lifetime
  • (d)per person once in five years

  Answer(b) per family per year — the cover is an annual family floater shared across the household, with no cap on family size or age.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following is a component of Ayushman Bharat besides Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana?

  • (a)Health and Wellness Centres
  • (b)Mid-Day Meal Scheme
  • (c)National Pension System
  • (d)Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

  Answer(a) Health and Wellness Centres — built on existing sub-centres and primary health centres to deliver comprehensive primary care.