What Happened
- The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its Report No. 4 of 2025, audited the performance of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in Bihar and flagged multiple systemic shortcomings.
- In the AB-PMJAY audit, the CAG found that only 41% of eligible beneficiaries in Bihar had completed the verification process. Additionally, 595 out of 44,559 villages in the state — despite having eligible beneficiaries — had not issued a single Ayushman Card.
- Information, Education and Communication (IEC) expenditure was found to be disproportionately low relative to allocations: just 18% of available IEC funds were utilised in FY 2018-19, rising marginally over subsequent years.
- PMAY funds in Bihar were found to be stuck at various stages, with beneficiaries remaining unpaid due to delays in fund transfers, inadequate beneficiary verification, and unresolved payout issues.
- The Bihar government adopted the National Food Security Act (NFSA) database for AB-PMJAY in February 2024, and the state has since claimed 100% family coverage.
- The CAG report highlights a pattern seen nationally: weak implementation infrastructure, leakage through ineligible beneficiaries, and persistent inclusion-exclusion errors in welfare scheme delivery.
Static Topic Bridges
Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) — Constitutional Role
The CAG is established under Article 148 of the Constitution of India as an independent constitutional authority appointed by the President. Articles 149 and 150 define the CAG's duties to audit the accounts of the Union and states, and prescribe the form in which such accounts must be kept. The CAG's reports on state government accounts are submitted to the relevant Governor and then placed before the state legislature.
- CAG is appointed by the President; removal requires the same procedure as a Supreme Court judge.
- Conducts three types of audit: compliance audit, performance audit, and financial audit.
- Reports are examined by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) at the national level and by equivalent committees in state legislatures.
- The CAG Act of 1971 provides the statutory framework for CAG's duties and powers.
Connection to this news: The Bihar report is a performance audit — evaluating not just whether funds were spent but whether the spending achieved the intended outcomes. CAG's findings on AB-PMJAY and PMAY represent its core accountability function: ensuring welfare schemes reach intended beneficiaries efficiently.
Ayushman Bharat — Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)
Launched on 23 September 2018, AB-PMJAY is the world's largest government-funded health assurance scheme. It provides cashless health coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation. The scheme targets approximately 12 crore families — around 55 crore individuals — from the bottom 40% of India's population, identified through Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data. Coverage was subsequently expanded to all citizens aged 70 and above regardless of income.
- Covers 27 speciality areas including oncology, cardiology, and orthopaedics.
- Benefits are on a family floater basis with no cap on family size.
- The scheme operates through empanelled public and private hospitals across all states.
- Post-hospitalisation expenses up to 15 days are also covered.
Connection to this news: CAG identified that weak IEC efforts and inadequate Ayushman Card issuance are functional bottlenecks preventing the scheme's universal coverage goals from being realised, particularly in rural and remote Bihar villages.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) — Affordable Housing Framework
PMAY was launched in 2015 with the objective of providing pucca housing to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), Lower Income Groups (LIG), and Middle Income Groups (MIG). The scheme has two components: PMAY-Urban and PMAY-Gramin (Rural). Beneficiary identification depends on database linkages, field surveys, and administrative coordination between central, state, and local bodies.
- EWS family income ceiling: Rs 3 lakh per annum; LIG: up to Rs 6 lakh.
- Original target: 2 crore houses by 2022; subsequently extended under PMAY 2.0.
- The scheme converges with Ujjwala, Saubhagya, and Jan Dhan for integrated service delivery.
- Fund release follows a stage-based disbursement system contingent on physical progress.
Connection to this news: CAG's finding that funds remained stuck and beneficiaries unpaid in Bihar reflects a systemic problem in the stage-based disbursement model — where poor verification and bureaucratic delays prevent eligible households from accessing entitlements.
Last-Mile Delivery Failures in Welfare Schemes
A recurring theme in CAG reports across states is the gap between scheme design and ground-level implementation, often termed "last-mile delivery failure." Factors contributing to this include database mismatch (between SECC, Aadhaar, and NFSA rolls), low administrative capacity at the block and panchayat levels, inadequate grievance redressal mechanisms, and insufficient IEC spending to generate awareness in remote areas.
- Inclusion error: ineligible persons receiving benefits.
- Exclusion error: eligible persons excluded due to data gaps or process failures.
- DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) has reduced leakage but not eliminated exclusion errors.
- Parliamentary Standing Committees and CAG both flag these structural bottlenecks regularly.
Connection to this news: Both AB-PMJAY and PMAY findings in Bihar illustrate classic last-mile failure: the schemes are well-designed at the national level but lose effectiveness due to verification gaps, low awareness, and fund immobility at the state and district levels.
Key Facts & Data
- Only 41% of eligible beneficiaries completed verification under AB-PMJAY in Bihar at time of audit.
- 595 out of 44,559 villages in Bihar had zero Ayushman Cards despite having eligible families.
- IEC expenditure: only 18% of allocated funds utilised in FY 2018-19 under AB-PMJAY in Bihar.
- Bihar adopted NFSA database for AB-PMJAY in February 2024, claiming 100% family coverage thereafter.
- AB-PMJAY provides cashless coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for hospitalisation.
- PMAY targets EWS (income up to Rs 3 lakh/year) and LIG (income up to Rs 6 lakh/year) families.
- CAG reports are governed by Articles 148–151 of the Constitution; the CAG Act 1971 provides the statutory framework.
- CAG Report No. 4 of 2025 covers performance audit of civil departments in Bihar.