Photo Source: Babushahi Bureau/File Photo
Haryana: 500 health and wellness centres including Yogashalas to be established
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, February 23, 2024 - Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal has allocated a budget of Rs. 9,579.16 crore for the health, medical education, and Ayush sectors for the financial year 2024-25, marking a 23.89 percent increase compared to the revised estimates of Rs. 7,731.88 crore for the current year.Chief Minister, Manohar Lal presented the budget for 2024-25 as the finance minister in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha today.
He mentioned that under the 'Nirogi Haryana' scheme, health check-ups of 46.30 lakh beneficiaries from Antyodya families have been screened and 2.56 crore lab tests have been carried out till February 20, 2024.
The Chief Minister informed that the Cashless Health Facility for Government employees was launched for the employees of two departments on a trial basis in 2023.
It has now been extended to all regular Government employees from January 1, 2024. The main objective of the scheme is to reduce out of pocket healthcare expenditure of the employees.
As of now 556 empanelled hospitals have been onboarded, and 1340 treatment packages have been integrated on the scheme portal which satisfies a long pending demand of Government employees and will provide significant relief in meeting healthcare costs of their family.
He elaborated that the benefits of the Chirayu-Ayushman Bharat scheme were initially extended to families with annual incomes ranging from Rs. 1.80 lakh to Rs. 3 lakh as per their income in Parivar Pehchan Patra. For this, they had to pay a nominal annual contribution of Rs. 1500. Now, the scope of the scheme will be expanded to families with annual incomes exceeding Rs. 3 lakh.
Those in the income bracket of Rs. 3-6 lakh will pay an annual contribution of Rs. 4000, and those earning over Rs. 6 lakh annually will contribute Rs. 5000 per year, to avail the benefits of the Chirayu-Ayushman Bharat scheme. This will help Haryana achieve its goal of providing universal health insurance to its citizens.
The Chief Minister also mentioned a Centre of Excellence has been established within the Post Graduate Institute of Dental Science, Rohtak. The establishment of Centre of Excellence in Preventive Health at Shahid Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College, Nalhar is under process. Pandit B.D. Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak has started Renal Transplantation Program and shall soon also start Liver Transplantation Program, for which approvals have been given. This would benefit patients from Haryana waiting for organ transplants, he added.
He highlighted that in the financial year 2024-25, 500 Health and Wellness Centres co-located with Yogshalas, to shift the focus of healthcare from treatment to prevention of diseases.
The National Ayurvedic Institute, being established on the land provided by the Shri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board in Panchkula, has recently started outpatient care (OPD). The construction of this institute is expected to be completed in the fiscal year 2024-25.
He also informed about the approval granted by the Employees State Insurance Corporation for the establishment of new hospitals with 100 beds each in Hisar, Rohtak, Ambala, and Sonipat, and a 30-bed hospital in Karnal. New ESIC dispensaries are expected to be taken up in Pataudi, Saha, Gharaunda and Kaithal in 2024-25.