Awareness and Utilization of Health Related Government Schemes by the Below Poverty Line (BPL) Families in Ahmedabad City

The government has implemented many schemes for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families to help them in times of need for health care services. In this study questions were asked for both central as well as state government health related schemes for the BPL families. Out of 120 families studied, 81 (67.5 %) families were utilizing one or more BPL schemes. Only 53 (44.2 %) families had knowledge regarding Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and 58 (48.3 %) families knew about Kasturba Poshan Sahay Yojana (KPSY). The Gujarat government scheme Mukhaymantri Amrutam (MA) yojana was known to 78 (65 %) families. The overall knowledge about all government schemes was low and thus the utilization was even lower reflecting the relatively lower health status in the BPL families.