Ayushman Bharat wellness Centres or mohalla clinics? Union Health Ministry locks horns with Punjab Govt
"The money is given for this particular scheme. If the scheme is converted or being rebranded that means the government has stopped the scheme. So, there is no scheme, and then there will be no money from Centre," said a source adding that Punjab has not only changed the branding but has also started calling them Mohalla Clinics.
Chandigarh: A controversy between the Punjab government and Union Health Ministry has broken after the latter threatened to stop funds to the state government on account of the attempts of rebranding of Ayushman Bharat for Health Wellness Centre (AB-HWCs) as Mohalla Clinics.
Taking note of the allegations that the Punjab government is not adhering to the provisions of the MoU and not following the guidelines issued for Ayushman Bharat for Health Wellness Centre (AB-HWCs) and developing the branding of these facilities as Aam Aadmi Clinics, the Health Ministry has warned the state government that it will stop allocating funds under the scheme.
Union Health Ministry may stop the funds given to the Punjab Government under the Ayushman Bharat Health Scheme over the issues of changing the name of the scheme and branding the centres as the Mohalla Clinics across the state.
A top Health Ministry official on Tuesday said that the funds given to states under the Ayushman Bharat for Health Wellness Centres will not be released for Punjab.
Also Read:Punjab: Doctor resigns from Aam Aadmi Clinic
"The money is given for this particular scheme. If the scheme is converted or being rebranded that means the government has stopped the scheme. So, there is no scheme, and then there will be no money from Centre," said a source adding that Punjab has not only changed the branding but has also started calling them Mohalla Clinics.
The Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centre (AB-HWC) is formulated with 60:40 contribution ratios. As per the Memorandum Of Understanding signed between Centre and states, the Centre bears 60 per cent and the states have to spend rest 40 per cent.
Under the scheme, the state has been given Rs 63.87 crore in 2019-20, Rs 239.73 crore in 2020-21, Rs 148.52 crore in 2021-22 and Rs 145.88 crore in 2022-23 for infrastructure strengthening, chief health officer salary, strengthening of diagnostic services and others.
Highlighting the ministry's earlier communication where the states were asked to ensure facade branding of the Health and Wellness Centres (HWC) as per the design manual of National Health Mission for HWCs in a letter to the Punjab government on February 6, the ministry said that "the state is still not complying with the branding requirements in case of PHC-HWCs in urban and rural area."
"Further, the importance of compliance by all states/UTs to this branding has been reiterated several times in the review meetings held with states/UTs from time to time. Subsequently, letter dated November 30, 2022 was sent by ASMMD (NHM) requesting the state to ensure branding of healthcare infrastructure as per NHM guidelines wherever services were being supported by NHM funds," the letter reads.
"The state has violated the provisions of Clause 10.3 and 10.10 of MoU and has stopped implementing the AB-HWC component of NHM (National Health Mission), therefore releases to the state under NHM do not appear feasible as per provisions of Clause 13 of the MOU," NHM Additional Secretary Roli Singh said in the letter.
The source said that other states like Telangana have also partially deviated from implementing the scheme and have been asked for corrections. The official added that around 3,029 sub-health centres, primary health centres and urban health centres have been converted into Mohala Clinics in Punjab.
Also Read:Punjab Govt Deputes CHOs to replace MBBS doctors in subsidiary health centres
