West Bengal to implement NHM, expand Ayushman Bharat coverage: CM

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced implementation of the National Health Mission with ₹2,103 crore central funding and expansion of Ayushman Bharat coverage to 1.36 crore families. The state also plans new medical colleges, stricter hospital monitoring and affordable medicines

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday said the state is set to implement the National Health Mission, and the Centre has sanctioned Rs 2,103 crore for the scheme. Addressing a programme of the health department in Kolkata, Adhikari also said that over 1.36 crore families will be covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Bengal. “This will ensure that a large section of the population in the state receives quality healthcare support,” he said.

“West Bengal will implement the National Health Mission. The Centre has sanctioned Rs 2,103 crore for the scheme, out of which we have already received Rs 527 crore. These funds will help improve healthcare delivery across the state,” Adhikari said.

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The CM, who also holds the health portfolio, said beneficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat scheme would receive health insurance coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh at designated government hospitals. Migrant worker employed in other parts of India would also be able to avail benefits of the scheme, he said. “State government hospitals will now be known as ‘Ayushman Mandirs’. If a patient spends Rs 1,000 a month on medicines, the same medicines will be available in these hospitals for Rs 100,” Adhikari said.

He said that 467 Pradhan Mantri Janaushadhi Kendras would be operational in the state, and medicines for serious ailments, including cancer, would soon be made available at a 30 per cent subsidy. The CM also announced the setting up of medical colleges in Alipurduar, Kalimpong, Dakshin Dinajpur and Paschim Bardhaman districts.

“No district should be deprived of the benefits of a medical college. That is why the government has taken this initiative,” he said. Adhikari also said control rooms are being set up to oversee and monitor district hospitals across the state.

Asserting that the health department would adopt a “zero-tolerance” policy against alleged middlemen in hospitals and unnecessary referrals of patients, he said a central control room is being established at ‘Swasthya Bhavan’ for round-the-clock monitoring of district hospitals and medical colleges. “We will keep a watch on whether any middlemen network is active in hospitals, doctors are present, patients are occupying beds, and even if stray dogs and cats are roaming on the premises,” Adhikari said.

The control room would also monitor cleanliness, service delivery and administrative functioning in government healthcare facilities. The chief minister said action has already been initiated against a doctor of the Kolkata Medical College over the referral of a critically ill patient.

Adhikari also announced a policy decision concerning private hospitals that had received government land at a nominal rate of Re 1. Such hospitals would be required to reserve up to 15 per cent of beds for economically weaker patients referred from government healthcare facilities.

“If there is excess pressure on government hospitals and patients are sent to these private hospitals, they will have to admit them. We have also decided that treatment must be provided to such patients free of cost,” he said.

Adhikari said his government was committed to improving accountability and ensuring transparency in the healthcare sector. The CM also inaugurated a 100-bed unit at the state-run SSKM Hospital, and presented an account of the initiatives undertaken by the government in the health sector over the past three weeks. PTI