Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Jammu and Kashmir has won national recognition for its work under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, with the State Health Agency, J&K, named the “Best Performing Union Territory” for fully covering frontline workers with Ayushman Cards.
The honour was conferred at Aarogya Manthan 2026, held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi as part of celebrations marking eight years of AB-PMJAY and five years of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. Virender Kumar, Nodal Officer of SHA J&K, received the award on behalf of the agency from Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare J. P. Nadda. Senior officials from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the National Health Authority and other dignitaries attended the ceremony.
Saturation coverage of frontline workers under the scheme is no small administrative task, and officials credited it to sustained coordination across the health system in the Union Territory. The achievement reflects the combined work of SHA J&K, Chief Medical Officers, district teams, frontline health workers and field functionaries, whose efforts at the grassroots level ensured eligible workers were enrolled and able to access the scheme’s benefits.
Officials in Srinagar described the recognition as a proud moment for teams working across Jammu and Kashmir, and said it lends further momentum to SHA J&K’s ongoing push to strengthen AB-PMJAY SEHAT, the UT’s expanded version of the national scheme, so that its benefits reach a wider population base.
AB-PMJAY remains among the world’s largest publicly funded health assurance schemes, offering cashless hospitalisation cover to lakhs of eligible families, while the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission has been building the digital health infrastructure meant to link patients, providers and records across the country. The J&K award comes as the Centre continues to position saturation of welfare schemes, health coverage included, as a benchmark for state and UT performance.
For SHA J&K, the recognition also serves as an endorsement of the last-mile delivery model built around district health teams and field-level functionaries, a structure officials say will now be leveraged further to expand SEHAT coverage beyond the current beneficiary base.
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