Shimla: Harsh Mahajan, Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, raised an important question in Parliament regarding the allocation and utilization of funds provided to Himachal Pradesh under various Central health schemes.
Responding to the query, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav informed the House that the Central Government has been continuously extending financial assistance to the state through the National Health Mission and the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission.
According to the Ministry, hundreds of crores of rupees have been released to Himachal Pradesh under the National Health Mission during the financial years 2022–23 to 2024–25. These funds are being used to strengthen healthcare services, expand medical facilities and improve access to quality healthcare, particularly in rural and remote areas.
Under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, the state received central assistance of ₹64.32 crore in 2022–23, ₹47.91 crore in 2023–24 and ₹49.71 crore in 2024–25.
In the field of medical education, approval has been granted to increase 120 MBBS seats across six government medical colleges in Shimla, Kangra, Mandi, Hamirpur, Nahan and Chamba. For this, ₹35.64 crore in central assistance was released during 2022–23. Additionally, about ₹27 crore has been sanctioned for establishing new nursing colleges in Una, Hamirpur and Nahan.
Reacting to the information, Mahajan said the financial support from the Centre is playing a key role in strengthening Himachal Pradesh’s healthcare infrastructure and helping expand quality medical services even in remote areas of the state.
