The Centre’s Economic Survey has attributed Bengal’s poor performance on certain primary health measures to the state’s decision not to adopt the nationwide health insurance scheme that covers hospitalisation costs for poor households, baffling health experts who say the connection is far-fetched. The survey, released by the Union finance ministry on Friday, has said Assam, Bihar and Sikkim, which have adopted the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY), have shown greater improvements in infant mortality, family planning services and vaccinations than has Bengal. But sections of health experts and health economists have questioned the wisdom of citing the PMJAY — a scheme that pays for hospitalisation — as a source of gains in primary health measures. One expert said the PMJAY chapter’s reference to Bengal appeared to have been crafted with “a political motivation” to cast Bengal in poor light.