Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY)

What is it?

PM-JAY provides health cover for secondary and tertiary hospital care to families identified as poor or vulnerable, drawn from the deprivation and occupational categories of the Socio-Economic Caste Census. Treatment is cashless at empanelled public and private hospitals.

There is no enrolment step in the usual sense. Eligibility is an entitlement determined from existing survey data rather than something you apply for. You check whether your family is on the list and then have an Ayushman card generated.

The cover is a family floater: the Rs 5 lakh is shared across the household rather than allotted per person, and there is no cap on family size or member age. Pre-existing conditions are covered from the first day.

Potential benefit

Up to ₹5,00,000 per family per year

Up to Rs 5,00,000 per family per year of cashless secondary and tertiary hospital treatment. Potential benefit subject to official approval and to treatment being taken at an empanelled hospital.

Who can apply?

• Household income is in the range this scheme targets

  Where this comes from

  over 12 crores poor and vulnerable families (approximately 55 crore beneficiaries) that form the bottom 40% of the Indian population

  Official source ↗
• SC and ST households are one of the qualifying categories improves your chances rather than being required

  Where this comes from

  D5- SC/ST households

  Official source ↗
• A household with a disabled member and no able-bodied adult qualifies improves your chances rather than being required

  Where this comes from

  D4- Disabled member and no able-bodied adult member

  Official source ↗
• Your occupation is among those the scheme lists improves your chances rather than being required

  Where this comes from

  Ragpicker, Beggar, Domestic worker, Street vendor/ Cobbler/hawker / other service provider working on streets, Construction worker/ Plumber/ Mason/ Labour/ Painter/ Welder/ Security guard/ Coolie and other head-load worker

  Official source ↗
• Households without a permanent house are among the qualifying rural categories improves your chances rather than being required

  Where this comes from

  D1- Only one room with kucha walls and kucha roof

  Official source ↗

Other conditions stated by the government

• Rural households qualify if they meet at least one of the listed deprivation criteria, which include households with only one room with kucha walls and roof, households with no adult member aged 16 to 59, households with a disabled member and no able-bodied adult, SC and ST households, and landless households earning mainly from manual casual labour.
• Urban households qualify if the earning member works in one of eleven listed occupations, including ragpicker, domestic worker, street vendor, construction worker, sanitation worker, home-based worker or artisan, transport worker, shop worker, electrician or mechanic, washerman and chowkidar.
• There is no cap on family size or on the age of family members.

Eligibility information is provided for informational purposes only. Final eligibility and approval are determined by the relevant government authority.

Documents you will need

We have not been able to confirm the document list from an official source, so we have left it out rather than guess. Check the official source linked above.

How to apply

There is no application in the usual sense. Families already identified through Socio-Economic Caste Census data are entitled by default. You verify whether your family is eligible and then have an Ayushman card generated, usually at an empanelled hospital's Ayushman Mitra desk or a Common Service Centre. Treatment is then cashless at the point of care.

Where to apply: csc and offline

Deadline

No fixed deadline. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.