West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday announced that the state has received a sanction of nearly ₹3,000 crore from the Centre for strengthening and modernising the public healthcare sector. He also confirmed that Ayushman Bharat health insurance cards are expected to start reaching beneficiaries across the state from July this year.
According to Adhikari, the Centre has sanctioned ₹2,103 crore under the National Health Mission (NHM) for the current financial year, with around ₹500 crore already transferred to the state government. In addition, the Centre has allocated its share of ₹976 crore for implementation of the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Bengal.
Speaking during a virtual press conference from Nabanna after an hour-long meeting with Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, Adhikari said the funds would be used to improve healthcare infrastructure, expand medical facilities and strengthen public health services across the state.
The chief minister said around six crore beneficiaries currently covered under the Swasthya Sathi scheme introduced by the previous Trinamool Congress government would be brought under the ambit of Ayushman Bharat in the first phase. He added that fresh applicants who were not previously enrolled under Swasthya Sathi would also be eligible for the central health insurance scheme.
“We are hoping to start distribution of Ayushman Bharat cards from July. The enrolment process has already begun,” Adhikari said during the media briefing.
The state government is also planning to sign an agreement with the Centre in early June to include West Bengal in the Ayushman Arogya Mandir network. According to the chief minister, this move would help extend healthcare benefits to more than one crore migrant residents from Bengal who live outside the state for work or education.
Adhikari further announced that recruitment of doctors, nurses and healthcare workers in government-run hospitals and health centres would be accelerated over the next three months. He alleged that vacancies in the healthcare sector had remained high under the previous government and promised a transparent recruitment process to fill vacant posts on priority.
The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana is one of India’s largest public health insurance programmes and provides annual health coverage of up to ₹5 lakh per family for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.
