Punjab govt urges Centre to release Ayushman funds accumulated to Rs 621 cr

Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh on Tuesday appealed to the Central Government to release the Ayushman Funds which has been accumulated to the tune of Rs 621 crore reported news agency ANINotably the Punjab government in a release said that the Central Government has stopped releasing grants to the Punjab state under the Ayushman Scheme since December 2022 reported ANIPertinently the Department of Health and Family Welfare Punjab has received first prize for its submission titled Strengthening last mile delivery of drugs A case study from Punjab in the Global Health Supply Chain Summit held in Nairobi from November 1416 reported ANIIf delegates from 40 countries want to come here to see our healthcare model to replicate in their countries the Centre Government should also support us and should release the funds for the welfare of the people said Dr Balbir Singh while adding that the Punjab Government has even written a letter to the Central Government to consider the Aam Aadmi Clinics as a state scheme and wont use Ayushman funds for this scheme reported ANIThe Health Minister however said that there is no dearth of funds from Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to upgrade the healthcare facilities in the state Our CM Saab has always asked me not to worry about funds and just focus on the upgradation of healthcare infrastructure and ensure that nobody should face any kind of hassle in availing any treatment at government hospitals he said reported ANIHe said that 100 more Aam Aadmi Clinics are ready to be thrown open to the public while the Chief Minister has also given the goahead to set up 70 additional Aam Aadmi Clinics at underserved Kandi areas including Hoshiarpur Pathankot and Gurdaspur To ensure the availability of medicines at Government Health Facilities the Chief Minister has also given approval to purchase medicines he said while adding that nobody will have to purchase medicines from private pharmacies reported ANIDr Balbir Singh said that an amount of Rs 550 crores is being spent for the upgradation of around 40 secondary care health facilities including district subdivisional hospitals and Community Health Centres CHCs The upgraded buildings of all the hospitals will be equipped with ultramodern medical facilities including Intensive Care Units ICUs Ventilators Xrays Ultrasound etc and people no more have to visit private hospitals to avail worldclass healthcare facilities he added reported ANIPertinently there are 664 Aam Aadmi Clinics 236 in urban areas and 428 in Rural areas functioning in the state and all of them are ITenabled with endtoend digitisation of registration doctor consultation investigations and prescriptions This results in a fivestep patient journey and thus reduced turnout time from patient registration to prescription Over 70 lakh patients have availed free treatment at these clinics so far reported ANIWith inputs from ANI