TDP-JanaSena Manifesto Mimics YSRCP’s Welfare Agenda

Days before the election, the opposition alliance led by Chandrababu Naidu and his adopted son Pawan Kalyan released their poll manifesto on Tuesday. After analysing the content and promises of the manifesto, political analysts claimed that the opposition's manifesto is nothing but a repackaging of welfare schemes already implemented by the incumbent YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government and presenting them as new promises.

A key promise in the opposition's manifesto is to provide Rs 25 lakh health insurance coverage to the people of the state. Critics point out that the Jagan government has already launched YSR Aarogyasri scheme with an upgraded benefit of Rs 25 lakh and 4.25 crore people will be covered under the scheme.

Moreover, while the Aarogyasri scheme was previously limited to white ration card holders during Naidu's tenure, CM Jagan made it applicable to all families with an annual income below Rs 5 lakh covering over 90 percent of the state's population.

The Jagan government has also distributed over 4.7 crore digital health cards and implemented smart health cards for every family under Aarogyasri scheme and interestingly the opposition alliance has promised the same in their election manifesto. Analysts are asking what is new in Naidu's pledges when similar initiatives have already been rolled out.

The TDP in its 2014 election manifesto had promised 14 initiatives related to medical health policy, none of which were fulfilled during his term. This includes the construction of NIMS-like hospitals in every district and the expansion of the Aarogyasri scheme to cover new diseases and provide free examinations and treatments at private hospitals.

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