SRINAGAR: The Union Government on Friday clarified that there is no restriction on family size, age or gender for eligible beneficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), rejecting concerns that families with fewer than six members are ineligible for Ayushman cards.
The clarification was given by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav in a written reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1097, answered on July 24, 2026, in response to a query by Shri Ujjwal Raman Singh.
The minister informed the House that AB-PMJAY provides health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation to 12 crore economically vulnerable families, representing the bottom 40 per cent of India’s population.
Jadhav said that for all eligible beneficiary categories under the scheme, there is no cap on the number of family members, age or gender, and every eligible member of a beneficiary family is entitled to health coverage irrespective of age or gender.
He also highlighted that the scheme was expanded in March 2024 to include around 37 lakh families of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers.
Further strengthening the programme, the government extended AB-PMJAY in October 2024 to cover six crore senior citizens aged 70 years and above belonging to 4.5 crore families, regardless of their socio-economic status.
Responding to questions on whether families with fewer than six members would be brought under the scheme, the minister reiterated that eligible beneficiaries are already covered without any family-size restriction, indicating that no such eligibility condition exists under the current framework.
