Now Reading: Bengal gets Rs 3,000 crore health boost, Ayushman rollout from July
-
01
Bengal gets Rs 3,000 crore health boost, Ayushman rollout from July
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced the state has received sanction of about Rs 3,000 crore from the Centre this fiscal for revamping public healthcare, with Rs 500 crore already transferred.…
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced the state has received sanction of about Rs 3,000 crore from the Centre this fiscal for revamping public healthcare, with Rs 500 crore already transferred. The funds include Rs 2,103 crore for the National Health Mission and Rs 976 crore for Ayushman Bharat. Cards under the central health insurance scheme are expected to be distributed from July, enrolling around 6 crore existing Swasthya Sathi cardholders in the first phase.
Adhikari said the state plans to sign an agreement with the Centre by early June to extend Ayushman benefits to over 1 crore migrant residents. The chief minister stated recruitment of doctors and nurses in state-run centres will be accelerated in three months, alleging the previous government filled only 53% of posts against the national average of 98%. He also said proposals have been drawn up to set up medical colleges in four districts and an AIIMS campus in north Bengal.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The shift in Bengal's health administration from confrontation to alignment with the Centre unlocks funds that were stalled by paperwork disputes. The central condition for release, submission of utilisation certificates by 30 May, shows compliance mechanisms can now unlock the roughly Rs 1 lakh crore the previous government claimed was blocked. For context, the NHM allocation alone (Rs 2,103 crore) covers Bengal's share of the national missions on maternal, child and communicable disease control. The July target for Ayushman Bharat enrolment of 6 crore Swasthya Sathi cardholders will test whether the technical integration between the two schemes is ready. The concrete numbers to watch are the 30 May UC deadline and June's agreement signing for migrant coverage.
Source: millenniumpost.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
