A total of 1.86 lakh people have benefited from the state government’s Swasthya Sathi scheme since December 1 last year, when the Duare Sarkar programme was launched to reach out to people left out of government schemes.

Such a large number of beneficiaries of the health assurance scheme holds significance ahead of the Assembly elections because the BJP has been claiming that the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme would have been more beneficial.

“Before December 1, a total of 14.34 lakh people had availed themselves of the benefits of Swasthya Sathi cards. After December 1, a total of 1.86 lakh people got benefits of the scheme. So far, more than 2.17 crore families have been issued the Swasthya Sathi cards,” Bengal chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said on Tuesday.

The cashless assurance scheme offers a health coverage of Rs 5 lakh per annum per family.

Sources at Nabanna said the government’s primary target was to bring 2.3 crore families under the Swasthya Sathi scheme. As the target has been achieved, the government’s focus is on providing proper services to the people to make the scheme popular.

“This is already reflected in the figures. Previously, 2,100 people were getting benefits of the scheme daily. Now, the figure stands at 3,700. This has become possible because more than 425 private hospitals have been brought within the ambit of the scheme since December 1. A total of 1,537 private hospitals now accept the Swastha Sathi cards,” an official said.

Making the scheme po-pular holds significance for the ruling party of the state ahead of the polls because it would make one weapon of the BJP — non-implemen-tation of Ayushman Bharat — blunt, Trinamul insiders said.

“The more people benefit from the scheme, the more we will penetrate into the areas where we put up a poor show in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. That is the reason the BJP is attacking the scheme at all meetings,” said a minister.

The state government has also decided to ensure that hospitals get prompt payment for providing treatment to the Swasthya Sathi beneficiaries.

“Every day, a sum of Rs 7 crore is being spent from the state exchequer to pay the treatment bills under the scheme…. We are trying to ensure that the hospitals get the money on time,” said a source.

The annual outgo on the scheme has been pegged at Rs 3,000 crore, prompting a section of officials to raise the question whether the cash-strapped Trinamul government would be able to carry on with it.

“Initially, the state might not face any problem because it is set to get a sum of Rs 40,000 crore from the Centre as revenue deficit grant over the next four years. But after that, the state has to think about enhancing its own revenues to run the scheme,” said an official.