Bhopal: In a significant move to expand healthcare access, Western Central Railway has opened its hospitals to the general public by integrating them with the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), also known as the Ayushman Bharat scheme. This means that anyone with a valid Ayushman card can now receive cashless and free medical treatment at these railway facilities.
Until now, railway hospitals primarily served railway employees and their families, operating under the management of the railway administration. However, with this new integration, the management and monitoring of these hospitals will now fall under the respective State Health Agency (SHA), bringing them into the broader network of hospitals governed by the National Health Authority (NHA).
This initiative marks a major step towards making modern healthcare services more widely available, ensuring that advanced medical facilities are no longer restricted to a select few but are accessible to the wider public through the government’s flagship health insurance scheme.
