**Executive Summary**
This document presents the Minister of Health and Family Welfare's response to Starred Question No. 194 in Lok Sabha, scheduled for December 12, 2025, concerning health services provided under the National Health Mission (NHM) to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The response details various schemes and initiatives, including the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), and provides state-wise funding information and details on new medical colleges. A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Healthcare Support for SCs, STs, and OBCs:**
* Schemes under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare support improvements in health infrastructure and access to quality healthcare for SCs, STs, and OBCs.
* **National Health Mission (NHM) Initiatives:**
* Initiatives include Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, National Ambulance Services, Mobile Medical Units, ASHAs, 24 x 7 Services, First Referral Facilities, Prime Minister's National Dialysis Programme, Free Diagnostics and Drugs Service Initiatives, Reproductive & Child Health activities, Anaemia Mukt Bharat strategy, TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan and Universal Immunization programme.
* For tribal healthcare: National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission (NSCAEM), Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN) and Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DA-JGUA).
* State-wise Central releases of funds for SC/ST categories under NHM from FY 2022-23 to FY 2024-25 are detailed in Annexure-I.
* **Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY):**
* Provides health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to 12 Crore families (bottom 40% of India's population).
* Beneficiary identification uses databases including Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC), prioritizing SC/ST households.
* As of December 6th, 2025, 1.98 crore Ayushman Cards for SC and 0.97 crore Ayushman Cards for ST have been created under AB-PMJAY.
* In March 2024, 37.14 lakh families of ASHA, Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers were included under the scheme.
* In October 2024, the scheme was expanded to cover 6 crore senior citizens of age 70 years and above belonging to 4.5 crore families irrespective of their socio-economic status.
* In January 2024, the National Health Authority collaborated with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for inclusion of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) families under the purview of AB-PMJAY. As on 6th December 2025, 13.33 Lakh Ayushman Cards were created under this category.
* Accessed at: https://dashboard.nha.gov.in/public/
* **Human Resource for Health:**
* Aims to reduce the urban/rural divide, regional imbalance in presence of medical Institutions/ medical professionals and bring affordable health care to underserved areas.
* 157 new medical colleges approved through Centrally Sponsored Scheme for “Establishment of New Medical Colleges attached with existing District/Referral hospitals" in those Parliamentary constituencies/ Districts which do not have a single medical college either in Government or private sector.
* 40 colleges approved in aspirational districts and 38 in tribal areas (State-wise details in Annexure-II).
* Under the scheme for Upgradation of existing State Government/Central Government medical colleges to increase MBBS seats in the country, 83 Government Medical Colleges in 17 States/UTs have been approved to increase 4977 MBBS seats with total cost of Rs. 5972.20 Cr. In addition, under Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for 'Strengthening and upgradation of State Government medical colleges for starting new PG disciplines and increasing PG seats', 8058 seats have been approved.
* **Budget and Expenditure:**
* Budget and expenditure under schemes for Development Action Plan for Scheduled Castes (DAPSC) and Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes (DAPST) for FY 2020-21 to 2024-25 are detailed in Annexures III & IV.
* **Monitoring and Evaluation:**
* Schemes and programmes are regularly monitored and evaluated for effectiveness.
**Impact Analysis**
**SCs, STs, and OBCs:**
* **Impact:** Increased access to healthcare services, improved health outcomes, and financial protection through schemes like AB-PMJAY.
* **Action Required:** Need to enroll in AB-PMJAY to avail of the benefits and utilize available health services under NHM and other schemes.
**State Governments/Administrations:**
* **Impact:** Responsible for implementing and monitoring the schemes.
* **Action Required:** Effectively implement schemes, monitor progress, and ensure funds are utilized appropriately.
**Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:**
* **Impact:** Accountable for planning, funding, and overseeing the implementation of the health schemes.
* **Action Required:** Regularly monitor and evaluate schemes to ensure effectiveness and make necessary adjustments.
**National Health Authority:**
* **Impact:** Responsible for creating Ayushman Cards and providing treatment
* **Action Required:** Access data and monitor schemes through the website https://dashboard.nha.gov.in/public/.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare: The primary ministry responsible for implementing the health schemes and policies discussed in the document.
National Health Mission (NHM): A major centrally sponsored scheme addressing various health needs, particularly for vulnerable populations.
Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY): A health insurance scheme providing financial coverage for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs): The socially and economically disadvantaged groups targeted by many of the schemes mentioned in the document.
Uttar Pradesh: A specific geographic location called out in the document where fund spending and health service provision are emphasized.
GOVERNMENT OFINDIA
MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE
DEPARTMENT OFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE
LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 194
TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 12TH DECEMBER, 2025
HEALTH SERVICES UNDER NHM
*194. SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV:
Will the MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be
pleased to state:
(a) the details of health services provided to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled
Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) communities through various
schemes including the National Health Mission (NHM) during the last three
financial years, State-wise and year-wise;
(b) the extent to which the said communities received benefits under the
Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) and other
major health assistance schemes in the country, State-wise particularly in Uttar
Pradesh alongwith the amount of funds spent thereupon;
(c) whether the Government has made any specific budget
allocations/implemented special sub-plans to address regional/social disparities in
access and quality of health services and to ensure better health outcomes for
these communities; and
(d) if so, the details of the specific monitoring systems adopted by the
Government to improve access to services for remote tribal areas and socially
backward classes in the country?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE
(SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)
(a)to (d) AStatement is laid on the Table of the House.STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLYTO LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 194 FOR 12TH DECEMBER, 2025
(a) & (b) The Schemes under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provide
support for improvement in health infrastructure, availability of adequate human
resources, to improve availability, affordability and accessibility to quality
healthcare to all including Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and
Other Backward Classes (OBCs) communities.
i) National Health Mission (NHM): The various initiatives carried out under
NHM are operationalization of Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, National Ambulance
Services, Mobile Medical Units, provision of ASHAs, 24 x 7 Services and First
Referral Facilities, Prime Minister's National Dialysis Programme, Free
Diagnostics Service Initiative and Free Drugs Service Initiative, various activities
under Reproductive & Child Health, Anaemia Mukt Bharat strategy, TB Mukt
Bharat Abhiyaan and Universal Immunization programme, etc.
For tribal healthcare, special programmes are National Sickle Cell Anaemia
Elimination Mission (NSCAEM), Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha
Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN) and Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan
(DA-JGUA).
Statement showing State-wise Central releases of fund (SC/ST category-wise)
under NHM from FY2022-23 to FY 2024-25 are at Annexure - I.
ii) Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)
provides health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary
care hospitalization to cover 12 Crore families constituting bottom 40% of India’s
population. Beneficiary identification is done based on various databases including
Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) which has SC/ST households as one of
the deprivation criteria in the rural areas.Accordingly, as on 15th November 2025,
1.98 crore Ayushman Cards for SC and 0.97 crore Ayushman Cards for ST have
been created under AB-PMJAY. In March 2024, 37.14 lakh families of ASHA,
Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers were included under the scheme. In
October 2024, the scheme was expanded to cover 6 crore senior citizens of age 70
years and above belonging to 4.5 crore families irrespective of their
socio-economic status.
In January 2024, the National Health Authority collaborated with the Ministry of
Tribal Affairs for inclusion of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)
families under the purview of AB-PMJAY. As on 6th December 2025, 13.33 Lakh
Ayushman Cards were created under this category (State-wise details of AyushmanCards created and treatment availed under the scheme can accessed at
https://dashboard.nha.gov.in/public/).
iii) Human Resource for Health aims to reduce the urban/rural divide, regional
imbalance in presence of medical Institutions/ medical professionals and bring
affordable health care to underserved areas. 157 new medical colleges have been
approved through Centrally Sponsored Scheme for “Establishment of New Medical
Colleges attached with existing District/Referral hospitals” in those Parliamentary
constituencies/ Districts which do not have a single medical college either in
Government or private sector. Of these, 40 colleges have been approved in
aspirational districts and 38 colleges in tribal areas. State-wise details are at
Annexure- II.
Under the scheme for Upgradation of existing State Government/Central
Government medical colleges to increase MBBS seats in the country, 83
Government Medical Colleges in 17 States/UTs have been approved to increase
4977 MBBS seats with total cost of Rs. 5972.20 Cr. In addition, under Centrally
Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for ‘Strengthening and upgradation of State Government
medical colleges for starting new PG disciplines and increasing PG seats’, 8058
seats have been approved.
(c) & (d) The Statement showing Budget and Expenditure under schemes for
Development Action Plan for Scheduled Castes (DAPSC) and Development
Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes (DAPST) for FY 2020-21 to 2024-25 in the
Department of Health and Family Welfare are at Annexure- III & IV.
All the schemes and programmes are regularly monitored at different levels and are
evaluated from time to time for effectiveness and outcomes in terms of larger
health benefits to the people.Annexure-I
StatementshowingState-wise Centralreleases(SC/STcategory-wise) underNHM fromFY
2022-23 to FY2024-25
(Rs.incrores)
2022-23 2023-24 2024-25
S.No. State/UT SC ST SC ST SC ST
Andamanand
1 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.10
NicobarIslands
2 AndhraPradesh 516.54 130.16 277.37 76.50 304.79 88.37
Arunachal
3 0.10 124.85 0.00 172.99 0.97 113.07
Pradesh
4 Assam 141.28 262.34 213.56 169.84 458.98 159.66
5 Bihar 465.64 30.39 418.39 24.50 389.82 35.74
6 Chhattisgarh 343.26 311.13 118.33 256.28 141.76 307.03
7 Delhi 4.50 0.00 15.15 0.00 54.61 0.00
8 Goa 7.49 3.88 6.46 2.90 2.54 7.08
9 Gujarat 334.34 128.10 208.52 226.41 103.09 201.92
10 Haryana 110.44 0.00 127.29 0.00 113.31 0.00
11 HimachalPradesh 232.56 58.55 123.62 32.88 142.25 43.00
Jammuand
12 41.69 14.45 114.88 47.78 100.96 49.08
Kashmir
13 Jharkhand 120.05 212.29 117.52 165.04 159.96 253.05
14 Karnataka 380.55 103.40 195.29 70.55 237.29 132.79
15 Kerala 423.36 46.64 23.15 3.16 296.88 103.49
16 MadhyaPradesh 762.79 429.36 487.09 293.60 429.06 572.98
17 Maharashtra 442.05 321.66 483.03 277.31 330.70 234.18
18 Manipur 2.07 18.74 44.23 30.32 38.69 33.49
19 Meghalaya 43.60 134.56 51.48 141.61 92.85 33.57
20 Mizoram 0.30 67.37 34.43 63.34 24.29 30.33
21 Nagaland 0.00 49.68 0.00 112.32 0.12 91.93
22 Odisha 246.55 454.37 268.77 316.26 378.99 472.97
23 Puducherry 3.46 0.00 9.55 0.00 4.32 0.00
24 Punjab 147.39 0.00 25.88 0.00 347.51 5.7125 Rajasthan 356.37 142.88 739.28 232.87 453.33 324.85
26 Sikkim 3.39 22.30 12.65 16.43 10.29 13.48
27 TamilNadu 272.40 15.81 481.62 90.58 370.37 27.09
28 Tripura 48.27 54.48 31.90 54.77 46.25 43.02
29 UttarPradesh 1,165.86 187.84 1,315.20 189.84 1,641.68 40.84
30 Uttarakhand 127.16 20.43 161.15 38.54 143.32 74.42
31 WestBengal 313.33 75.21 247.01 50.88 218.56 30.75
32 Telangana 99.89 50.87 119.77 41.38 197.65 93.25
Note: Theabove releasesrelate toCentral Govt.Grants anddonot includeStateshare
contribution.Annexure –II
State-Wise Details of Establishmentof New Medical Colleges
State/UT AspirationalDistrict(s) TribalDistrict(s)
AndhraPradesh Paderu -
ArunachalPradesh - PapumPare
Assam Dhubri Kokrajhar
Bihar Jamui,Purnia,Sitamarhi Jamui
Chhattisgarh Kanker,Korba,Mahasamund, Surguja,Kanker,Korba,
Rajnandgaon Mahasamund,Rajnandgaon
Gujarat Narmada Narmada,Navsari,Panchmahal
HimachalPradesh Chamba Chamba
Jammu&Kashmir Baramulla,Kupwara Rajouri
Jharkhand Dumka,EastSinghbhum, Dumka,Palamu,Hazaribagh,
Hazaribagh,Palamu PashchimiSinghbhum
Karnataka Yadgir -
Ladakh - Leh
MadhyaPradesh Khandwa,Rajgarh,Vidisha, Mandla,Shahdol,Chhindwara,
Singrauli Singrauli,Ratlam,Khandwa
(EastNimar)
Maharashtra Nandurbar Nandurbar
Manipur - Churachandpur
Meghalaya - WestGaroHills
Mizoram - Aizawl
Nagaland - Mon,Kohima
Odisha Balangir,Kalahandi,Koraput Mayurbhanj,Koraput,
Kalahandi
Rajasthan Baran,Dholpur,Jaisalmer, Banswara,Dungarpur,Sirohi,
Karauli,Sirohi Dausa
Sikkim - EastDistrict
TamilNadu Ramanathapuram, -
Virudhunagar
UttarPradesh Bahraich,Chandauli,Fatehpur, -
Siddharthnagar,Sonbhadra
Uttarakhand Haridwar,Udham SinghNagar -Annexure- III
(Rs. inCrore)
DAPSC
DAPSC (%)
allocation Expenditure
BE allocation Allocation
Year BE (Total) asperRE under
(Scheme) asperBE under DAPSC
(Scheme)
(Scheme) DAPSC
2020-21 65012 49600 8300 7643 16.7 7845.19
2021-22 71269 53544 8938 10759 16.7 8005.95
2022-23 83000 62797 10424 9298 16.6 8862.22
2023-24 86175 56168 9324 7965 16.6 8041.64
2024-25 87657 55169 9158 8927 16.6 8537.72Annexure- IV
(Rs. incrore)
DAPST DAPST (%)
allocation allocation Allocation Expenditure
Year BE (Total) BE (Scheme)
asperBE asperRE under underDAPST
(Scheme) (Scheme) DAPST
2020-21 65012 49600 4300 4004 8.7 4097.66
2021-22 71269 53544 4634 5574 8.7 4262.70
2022-23 83000 62797 5401 4924 8.6 4741.21
2023-24 86175 56168 4830 4126 8.6 4134.07
2024-25 87657 55169 4745 4625 8.6 4431.02