Parliament Question: Status of Government Medical Facilities and Health Centres

GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 2147 TO BE ANSWERED ON31.07.2026 STATUS OFGOVERNMENTMEDICALFACILITIES AND HEALTH CENTRES 2147. MS.PRANITI SUSHILKUMAR SHINDE: Will the Ministerof HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFAREbe pleasedtostate: (a) the current status of Government medical facilities and health centres across the country, including Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHCs) and district hospitals, alongwith detailsof infrastructure andhumanresource availability; (b) whether the Government has identified key issues affecting the functioning of these facilities, including shortage of medical personnel, inadequate infrastructure, lackof essential medicinesandovercrowding, if so, the detailsthereof; (c) the steps taken by the Government to address these challenges, including recruitment drives, infrastructure upgradation,digital healthinitiatives andstrengthening of supply chains for medicinesandequipment inthe country; and (d) whether any recent assessment audit has been conducted by the Government to evaluate the quality of services and patient outcomes in Government health facilities, if so, the details thereof along with the corrective measures proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE (SHRIPRATAPRAO JADHAV) (a) to (d): ‘Public Health’ & ‘Hospitals’ are State subject and the primary responsibility lies with respective State/UT. However,Central Government through the National HealthMission (NHM) provides technical and financial support to States/UTs tostrengthen public healthcare system based on the proposals received in the form of Program Implementation Plans (PIPs). The Government of India annually takes up review on National Health Programme (NHM) programs thorough the ProgramImplementation Plan (PIP)with states/ UTsand based on the proposals submitted by them and deliberations will take place through National ProgramCoordination Committee (NPCC). Based on such discussions, the government grants approvalfor variousproposals tothe States/UTs through the Recordof Proceedings (RoP). The details of medical facilities and health centre across the country, including Primary Health Centre (PHCs), Community Health Centre (CHCs), District Hospitals and Human Resource, canbe accessed at the following linkof HDI 2023-24; https://www.mohfw-dohfw.gov.in/static/uploads/2026/05/57202cf30629539e4d0fb0a2f700ac 62.pdf The details of funds approved under the National Health Mission (NHM) for building infrastructure projectsinthe States/UTsduring the last four yearsare asfollows: (incrore) 2025-26 2024-25 2023-24 2022-23 4249.15 4222.23 4688.49 5471.98 However, under NHM, following types of incentives and honorarium are also provided to overcome the shortages of healthcare personnel: • Hard area allowances to specialist doctors for serving in rural and remote areas and for their residential quarters so that they find it attractive to serve in public health facilities in such areas. • Honorarium to Gynecologists/ Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC) trained, Pediatricians & Anesthetist/ Life Saving Anaesthesia Skills (LSAS) trained doctors is also provided to increase availability of specialists for conducting Cesarean Sections in rural & remote area. • Incentives like special incentives for doctors, incentive for Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife (ANM) for ensuring timely Antenatal Checkup (ANC) checkup and recording, incentivesfor conductingAdolescent Reproductive andSexualHealthactivities. • States are also allowed to offer negotiable salary to attract specialist including flexibilityinstrategies such as “YouQuote We Pay”. • Non-Monetary incentives such as preferential admission in post graduate courses for staff serving in difficult areasand improving accommodation arrangement inrural areas have also beenintroducedunderNHM.• Multi-skilling of doctors is supported under NHM to overcome the shortage of specialists. Skill upgradation of existing HR is another major strategy under NRHM for achievingimprovement inhealthoutcomes. The Swasth Bharat Portal is a single window to access multiple national health programmes through one integrated platform. The portal reduces the need to access and manage multiple programme applications separately, thereby saving time and minimizing duplicate data entry andenhancing efficiencyof service providers. To ensure availabilityof essential drugs andreduce the Out of Pocket Expenditure(OOPE)of the patients visiting the public health facilities, Government has rolled out the Free Drugs Service Initiative (FDSI) under NHM. This includes financial support to States/UTs for 113 drugs at AAM-SHCs, 179at AAM-PHCs, 301at CHCs, 318 at SDHsand381drugs at DHs. Under NHM, the performance of various health programmes is regularly monitored in all the States/UTs, through review meetings, mid-term reviews of key deliverables, field visits of senior officials, promoting performance by setting up benchmarks for service delivery & rewarding achievementsetc. Also, Common ReviewMissions (CRM) are conductedannually toassess andmonitorthe progress andimplementation status underthe scheme. ****