DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Punjab Government has decided to bring nearly 8.5 lakh farmers and their families under the ambit of the health insurance cover in line with the 'Ayushman Bharat Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana' for the year 2021-22. Besides, all the farmers having 'J' forms and 'Sugarcane Weighment Slips' would be eligible for this health scheme. To facilitate the farmers for applying this scheme in the easiest way, the Mandi Board has launched a dedicated portal for first time from this year. Now the farmers need not to visit market committee office to apply manually as was the case earlier. The interested farmers can simply apply on Mandi Board's portal https://emandikaran-pb.in with uploading related documents. Disclosing this here today, Chairman Punjab Mandi Board Lal Singh said that the Mandi Board would pay the entire premium for the insurance cover of all the farmers, who will get cashless treatment facility up to Rs 5 lakh per annum. He further said that all these farmers and their families will now be covered with effect from August 20, 2021. He also informed that the number of farmers covered under Health Insurance Scheme during the last year of the scheme stood at around 5.01 lakh based on 'J' forms and 'Sugarcane Weighment Slips'. Now, the number of farmers has reached nearly 8.5 lakh with 7.91 lakh farmers having 'J' forms registered with the Mandi Board and 55000 cane growers. Pointing out further, Lal Singh also said that these 5.01 lakh farmers, who have already been registered under Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojna during last year, need not to re-apply on portal as they will be extended the benefit for next year based on earlier documents but remaining nearly 3.5 lakh farmers registered as 'J' form holders and 'Sugarcane Weighment Slips' after October 1, 2020, would have to apply on portal for availing health Insurance. The Market Committees have also been directed to facilitate every farmer, in case he needs any help to avail this cashless treatment facility in a seamless manner, added Lal Singh. Meanwhile, Secretary Mandi Board Ravi Bhagat informed that the eligible farmers can apply online on portal to avail the health facilities from empanelled hospitals from August 20 this year. He further said that apart from the family head, Husband/Wife, Father/Mother, Unmarried Children, Divorced Daughter and her minor children, Widowed Daughter-in-Law and her minor children would be considered eligible to derive benefit under the scheme. Any further information can be sought from the toll free no. 104 or visit Mandi Board's website www.mandiboard.nic.in. These farmers can approach any of the 642 empanelled private hospitals and 208 government hospitals for treatment facility of up to Rs.5 lac for 1579 diseases, including major surgical treatments such as heart surgery, cancer treatment, joint replacement and accident cases under the health insurance scheme. Meanwhile, The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab has directly blamed the Congress government of Punjab for the death and decaying of the animals due to foot-and-mouth disease and demanded 100 per cent compensation for the livestock farmers. In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Sunday, AAP's Kisan Wing state president and MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan said the cattle in Ludhiana-Sangrur districts along with different parts of the state had been affected by foot-and-mouth disease. "As a result, hundreds of cases of death and mutilation of milch cattle have come to light; which is distressing; because nowadays the price of any milch animal is not less than one lakh rupees," he said. Sandhwan said this deadly disease was proving to be harmful for the livestock farmers; who were already facing a financial crisis due to the deadly policies of the centre and the state government. He said the other sections along with the livestock farmers were not on the agenda of the government. "If farmers, especially livestock farmers, were on the government's agenda, recruitment in veterinary dispensaries and hospitals, which had been vacant for decades, would have continued," he added. The AAP leader said that more than 70 per cent posts of Veterinary Officers, Veterinary Doctors, Veterinary Inspectors/Pharmacists and Class IV employees were lying vacant. Sandhwan said earlier in the 10 years rule of the SAD-BJP (Badal) government, they had not filled the vacant posts of field staff under the Animal Husbandry Department and now in the last four-and-a-half-years, the Congress government had grossly neglected the pastoralists of the state. (editor@dailyworld.in)