40,000 Health And Wellness Centres by 2020, Says Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister For Health And Family Welfare

With the ambitious dream of establishing 1,50,000 Health and Wellness centres under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare informed that the government will create 40,000 such centres by March 31, 2020, in a press conference here in Delhi.  

“Currently the number of Health and Wellness Centres across the country has reached to more 21,000”, expounded Harsh Vardhan.  

During the press conference, the Union Minister also shared that so far 18,073 hospitals have been empanelled under the scheme across the cities, towns, and villages. These hospitals include 47 per cent government and 53 per cent private hospitals treating patients under the ambitious health scheme. 

Harsh Vardhan also highlighted that so far 74 hospitals have been removed from the current tally of the hospital network after realisation of fraud in them. “Ayushman Bharat is honing technology to prevent any fraud and under the current government’s no-tolerance policy for fraud, we have de-panelled 74 hospitals from the Ayushman’s network.” He further said that the hospitals which have been found cheating will be named and shamed soon. 

This year the world’s largest health care scheme will complete its first year on September 25, and the government is planning to celebrate its annual celebration on September 23. So far, the government has spent around Rs 7500 Crore, the minister profounded.  

Under the health care scheme, so far more than 10 crore e-cards have been granted to the beneficiaries. “Within every two seconds, an e-card is available to a person in the country under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme”, Harsh Vardhan added. He further informed that within one year of its launch the scheme has so far helped more than 45 lakh people. 

At present, Ayushman Bharat is enrolled in 32 states and union territories in India. The only states which are not part of the health care scheme are Delhi, West Bengal, Orissa, and Telangana. “We are in talking terms with Orissa and it will be soon included under the scheme but in Delhi and West Bengal, political rifts between the parties have led the citizens of these states devoid of the benefit of the noble scheme”, Harsh Vardhan cleared.  

Ayushman Bharat launched last year provides a health insurance coverage of up to Rs five lakh to economical backward families under PM-JAY. Apart from insurance, the scheme encapsulates a progression towards promotive, preventive, curative, palliative, and rehabilitative aspects of universal healthcare through the access of Health and Wellness Centers (HWCs) at the primary level and provisioning of financial protection for accessing curative care at the secondary and tertiary levels through both private and public sector engagement.