New Delhi, April 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hailed the rollout of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PM-JAY) in Delhi as a “revolutionary step” for the national capital’s healthcare sector, enabled by the “double-engine” BJP government.

As the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), of which PM-JAY is a component, was officially launched in the national capital on Thursday, 19 residents, including 11 women and 8 men, became the first beneficiaries to receive Ayushman Bharat cards under the scheme.

PM Modi praised the implementation and expressed happiness that the people of Delhi will now benefit from the health scheme.

Taking to X, PM Modi wrote, “A revolutionary step related to Delhi’s health sector! This mission of the double-engine government is going to be extremely beneficial for lakhs of my brothers and sisters here. I am very happy that Delhiites will now also be able to get their treatment under the Ayushman Yojana.”

The PM-JAY rollout in Delhi comes just days after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on April 5, enabling the implementation of the Modi government’s flagship health scheme in the national capital.

With this, Delhi has become the 35th state or Union territory to adopt the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

The AB-PMJAY is a key component of the broader PM-ABHIM framework, which aims to boost public health infrastructure and improve access to quality healthcare across the country.

Launched in 2018, PM-JAY provides an annual health coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family for secondary and tertiary hospital care, targeting economically vulnerable populations. The scheme is the world’s largest government-funded healthcare programme.

The inclusion of Delhi in PM-JAY marks a significant milestone in expanding healthcare access to low-income families in the capital and reducing their financial burden for critical medical treatments.

Mumbai, April 10: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam on Thursday sharply criticised the Congress’ recent resolution focused on OBC votes, accusing it of fueling caste-based divisions for political gains.

“In its Ahmedabad convention, the Congress failed to oppose divisive forces operating under the guise of caste and religion. Instead, it passed a resolution aimed solely at consolidating OBC votes. This represents a dramatic and dangerous departure from its earlier nationalistic approach and exposes its hidden agenda of social division through caste politics,” the former MP said.

Recalling the Congress’ past stances, Nirupam told reporters that previous conventions saw the party adopt resolutions on Gram Swarajya, economic liberalisation, and bank nationalisation — initiatives aimed at national development.

“The Congress once took a firm stand against the politics of caste, language, and religion. But now, it is mirroring the tactics of regional parties by embracing caste-based vote-bank politics. This ideological U-turn is both disappointing and alarming,” he said.

He further alleged that the Congress is steadily drifting away from its national identity.

“The party is increasingly behaving like a regional outfit, prioritising short-term electoral gains over national unity,” Nirupam remarked.

Taking aim at Shiv Sena-UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray, Nirupam questioned his stance on the Congress’ caste resolution.

“For 25 years, Sena-UBT ruled the BMC, yet Aaditya never inspected drain cleaning works. Now, out of power, he is suddenly conducting inspections. It raises serious questions—are these visits just a new way to pressurise contractors for commissions?”

Highlighting the current administration’s achievements, Nirupam praised former Chief Minister and current Deputy CM Eknath Shinde for transforming Mumbai’s infrastructure.

“Under CM Shinde’s leadership, Mumbai’s roads have been concretised and are now virtually pothole-free. This is what real development looks like — not empty optics,” he said.

Mumbai: In an important meeting of scholars of all ideologies on the loudspeaker controversy in Govind Shivaji Nagar, Mumbai, it was decided that the documents of mosques, schools and madrasas should be certified and along with this, police permission for loudspeakers should also be obtained without any restriction because communal elements, especially Crate Soumya, are trying to spoil the atmosphere of Mumbai city, so he is constantly targeting mosques, schools and madrasas.

Addressing this meeting, Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi said that Crate Soumya is suffering from mosques and Azan. He is promoting communalism to create hatred between Hindus and Muslims, so Muslims need to be careful with him. He said that the way the law was flouted near Maloni Mosque on Ram Navami, DJ was played. He said that today the Constitution is being flouted, so Muslims need to be patient and be ready to work strategically. He said that a meeting should be held with the BMC and Police Commissioner on this issue and they should be made aware of the situation. Along with this, a ban has also been demanded on these miscreants. He further said that the illegal visit of miscreants, especially Krit Soumya, should be stopped.

Former minister and Congress leader Arif Naseem Khan said that we need to correct the documents of mosques, schools and madrasas and respond to them legally. Arif Naseem Khan said that along with the legal documents of madrasas, it is also mandatory to obtain loudspeaker permits. He said that we need to work cautiously and not in passion because communal elements are constantly trying to bring Muslims on the streets and mislead them, but we have to respond to them legally. Arif Naseem Khan proposed that only Azan should be given on loudspeaker and the rest of the speeches should be given using the speakers installed inside the mosque, to which the scholars agreed.

In this meeting, a team of lawyers was formed which will try to sort out the papers and other legal problems of the mosques and then legal action will be taken in this regard. Abu Asim Azmi said that the miscreants have objection only to the loudspeakers of mosques. In this, Raj Thackeray, Krant Soumya, Mangal Prabhat Lodha and Nitish Rane are creating an atmosphere of hatred and are conspiring to lure Muslims and bring them on the streets so that the atmosphere gets spoiled. Muslims need to be vigilant, so my demand is that these hateful leaders should be completely banned and their tours should also be banned so that a peaceful atmosphere is maintained. In this meeting, Maulana Abdul Rahman Ziyai said that legal action has been taken regarding the objection to loudspeakers on mosques. Apart from this, Krant Soumya and other leaders are also targeting madrasas. Their documents are also being investigated, which is completely wrong. However, work is also being done on the authenticity of the documents of madrasas and other issues.