What tidings does Independance Day bring this year to citizens? In the run-up to elections next year, the expectation is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give the National Health Protection Mission or Ayushman Bharat the red-carpet roll out in his I-Day speech.

The repackaged scheme announced in Budget 2018 promises health insurance coverage to 10 crore familes. And the last few months has seen hectic activity between the Health Ministry and States to get the show on the road.

Last year, Modi's speech from Red Fort had mentioned the Centre's Jan Aushadhi programme that sells low-cost generic medicines through their retail network. A promise was also made on getting dialysis centres in all districts across the country.

The expectation this year is for more health-related messages to be a part of the PM's speech. Specially since he has in the past used such platforms to announce campaigns like urging doctors to prescribe medicines using their generic names (as opposed to brandnames), besides mentioning the Government's efforts in bring down the price of cardiac stents.

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