Around 10,000 jobs to be created under National Health Protection Scheme

Also, the Union health ministry has launched a formal process to impanel public and private hospitals to achieve universal health coverage under the programme and as many as 20,000 private and government hospitals have been linked under the scheme, the official said.

The Centre is simultaneously carrying out beneficiary identification and under the process, 80 percent of beneficiaries, based on the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data in the rural and more than 60 percent in urban areas, have been identified.

Announced in the 2018 Budget, the AB-NHPM was touted as the 'world's largest government-funded healthcare scheme'.

Also, all beneficiaries will be given letters having QR codes which will be scanned and a demographic authentication conducted for identification and to verify his or her eligibility to avail benefits under the scheme.

Further, the government recently clarified that NABH is not mandatory for hospitals to get impaneled under the scheme.

Also, the basic empanelment criteria allow empanelment of a hospital with a minimum of 10 beds, with the flexibility provided to the states to further relax this if required.