Parliament Question: Strengthening of Primary Healthcare

GOVERNMENT OFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENT OFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 2293 TOBE ANSWERED ON31st JULY, 2026 STRENGTHENING OFPRIMARYHEALTHCARE 2293. SHRISUKANTAKUMAR PANIGRAHI: Will the Ministerof HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFAREbe pleasedtostate: (a) whether it is a fact that the Government's visionary expansion of Ayushman Arogya Mandirs has successfully enhanced primary healthcare access across the nation, with centers operationalasof 2026,if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the Government has analyzed that the systematic release and utilization of funds during the last three years have significantly improved healthcare delivery standards across the country, if so, the detailsthereof; (c) whether the Government proposes to further strengthen these Mandirs in aspirational districts like Kandhamal, Odisha, by integrating advanced digital diagnostics and AI-driven healthcareservices to bridge the urban-rural divide,if so, the detailsthereof; and (d) whether the Government, building upon its commendable national progress, is likely to consider a time-bound roadmap to enhance infrastructure and workforce capability in these tribal-dominated areas to ensure universal health coverage and improved medical outcomes for the localpopulation, if so, the detailsthereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRIPRATAPRAO JADHAV) (a) to (d): The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provides technical and financial support to the States/UTs to strengthen the public healthcare system including primary and district-level healthcare services, based on the proposals received in the form of Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs) under National Health Mission (NHM). Government of India provides approval for the proposal in the form of Record of Proceedings (RoPs) asper norms & available resources. More than 1.86 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AAMs) have been operationalized by strengthening Sub Health Centres (SHCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in the country. Atotal of 7,379 AAMs in Odisha including 221 AAMs in Kandhamal district have beenoperationalized. These AAMs provide preventive, promotive, rehabilitative and curative care for an expanded range of services. The AAMs incrementally provide 12 package of primary health care services across the country, encompassing Reproductive and child care services, Communicablediseases,NonCommunicablediseases(NCD),PalliativeCareandelderlyCare,Careforcommonmentaldisorders,neurologicalconditions(epilepsy,dementia)andsubstance use disorders management (tobacco, alcohol, drugs), Oral health, ENT care, and Basic emergencycare. The IndianPublicHealthStandards(IPHS)have beendevelopedbyMoHFWfor primaryand secondary healthcarefacilities which providesa set of uniform standards, includingnorms for services, infrastructure, humanresources, diagnostics, equipment,medicinesetc,envisagedto improve the quality of health care delivery in the country. They are used as the reference point for public healthcare infrastructure planningandup-gradationinthe States andUTs. Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) aims to create an online platform enabling interoperability of health data within the health ecosystem to create longitudinal electronic health record of every citizen, to improve access to quality healthcare in aspirational districts includingKandhamal. The teleconsultation services, available at all operational AAMs across the country, enables people to access the specialist services closer to their homes addressing concerns of physical accessibility, shortage of service providersandtofacilitate continuumof care. In an effort to establish seamless data flow and continuity of care, MoHFW has launched Swasth Bharat Portal - a centralized digital platform that provides single-window access to multiple national health programs, thereby reducing the burden of data reporting on healthcare providers and prioritizing patient care. It enables care providers to manage beneficiary details through ABHA ID and view longitudinal health records across various healthprograms. The Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) aims to support for infrastructure development for SHCs, Urban AAMs, Support for Block Public Health Units (BPHUs), Integrated District Public Health Laboratories (IPHL) and Critical Care Hospital Blocks (CCB) in the country including tribal-dominated areas. The Fifteenth Finance Commission (FC-XV) had recommended grants through Local Governments for specific componentsof thehealthsectors. Under NHM, norms have been relaxed for tribal/hilly/hard-to-reach areas to strengthen healthcare access. Population criteria for setting up of SHCs, PHCs and Community Health Centres (CHCs) have been relaxed from 5,000, 30,000 and 1,20,000 to 3,000, 20,000 and 80,000 respectively. One Accredited SocialHealth Activist (ASHA) is allowedper habitation instead of per 1,000 population, and up to 4 Mobile Medical Units (MMUs) per district are permittedintribal andhard-to-reachareas, comparedto2 inplaindistricts. *****