Gurugram, July 10 -- The Haryana unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has accused the state government of trying to weaken the Ayushman Bharat scheme by delaying payments to private hospitals, not clearing dues and reducing the health scheme's budget for the current financial year, officials familiar with the matter said. An IMA representative, Dr Ajay Mahajan, alleged that hospitals empanelled under the scheme are not getting paid on time. Payments are delayed by three to six months, even though the government had promised to clear dues within 15 days and pay 1% monthly interest in case of delay. These rules were part of the agreement signed with private hospitals earlier, he said. "The government is not following its own agreement. Hospitals are under pressure because they are not getting timely payments. Sometimes they are paid only after they threaten to stop Ayushman Bharat services," said Dr Mahaveer Jain, president of IMA Haryana. Dr Mahajan added that five major treatment packages have been removed from coverage under the scheme in private hospitals and this step will make it harder for patients to access necessary treatment. Ankita Adhikari, Joint CEO, Ayushman Bharat, Haryana said, "There has been no reduction in the budget. In fact, the allocation this time is either the same or has been increased compared to the previous budget. We have already started releasing the payments which are pending."...