On Monday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will add 76 new “Aam Aadmi Clinics” to the existing 583 in the Sangrur district. According to Health Minister Balbir Singh, of the current clinics, 403 are in rural areas and 180 are in cities.
According to Singh, more than 44 lakh people have used these clinics’ free services and more than 20 lakh medical tests have been performed there. These clinics were introduced by the AAP-led state government last year.
A point of contention between state and Centre
The clinics have also caused a controversy, with the Union Health Ministry alleging the funds meant for various health initiatives was instead sent to these clinics for AAP’s “promotion.”
This is significant because, on the grounds of this, the Centre had halted releasing Rs 546 crore to Punjab under the National Health Mission.
The Centre had threatened Punjab with the cessation of federal financing for the National Health Mission (NHM) after Health Wellness Centres (HWC) operated under the mission scheme were transformed into the Aam Aadmi Clinics in February.
Following this, Singh wrote a letter to Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Health Minister, stating that they were prepared to change the Aam Aadmi Clinics’ branding and pleading with him to provide cash.
The letter said that all PHCs-HWCs will be branding according to the pattern in due course, therefore the state should have at least three months to carry out the procedure.
The Aam Aadmi Clinics were renamed from the Ayushman Bharat — Health and Wellness Centres (AB — HWC), and the CM’s image was removed from the logo. These were some of the Center’s issues.
Punjab was criticised by the Centre for “vitiating the spirit of the scheme and defaulting on its commitment” in addition to breaking the terms of the MoU inked for the (AB-HWC).
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