Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, chaired a video conference (VC) meeting today with all States and UTs to review physical and financial progress under the National Health Mission (NHM), Emergency COVID Response Package (ECRP)-II, Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), 15th Finance Commission grants, and Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme (PM-NDP).
States/UTs were informed through a detailed presentation on the status of programme implementation and disbursement of funds under NHM, various projects under ECRP-II package, and PM-ABHIM, highlighting various initiatives and steps taken by the Government of India to ensure affordable, accessible, and equitable public healthcare services across the country. The meeting also focused on increasing the National Dialysis Program's coverage to 100%.
The Union Health Secretary emphasized that allocated government resources under the National Health Mission (NHM) must be expedited and used efficiently to ensure programme and initiative implementation. He urged states and territories to provide the necessary documentation/utilization certificates corresponding to fund utilization and to ensure refund of unused funds. States were also urged to map these transfers on the portal of the Public Financial Management System (PFMS).
Under PM-ABHIM, Rs. 64,180 crores have been allocated to develop the capacities of health systems and institutions across the continuum of care at all levels, primary, secondary, and tertiary, and to prepare health systems to respond effectively to current and future pandemics/disasters. Given the emphasis on using these funds for capital expenditure, states/UTs were asked to expedite proposals and MOUs submitted to the Union Health Ministry under PM-ABHIM so that the Ministry could release funds to the states on time.
States were asked to identify physical facilities and complete the mapping exercise on the NHM-Progress Monitoring System (PMS) portal as soon as possible to ensure the mapping of physical and financial progress. States were informed that the entire Central Share amount had been released to them, emphasizing the need to expedite the use of funds released under the ECRP-II package. While informing states about their expenditure status under ECRP-II, they were reminded to complete approval mapping on the NHM-PMS Portal and to review this status on a regular basis.
Furthermore, States/UTs were informed that, rather than seeking approval from the Union Health Ministry, State Health Societies (SHS) have been authorized to grant remaining ECRP-II approvals. Finally, states were asked to complete all activities under the ECRP-II scheme by December 31, 2022.
States were asked to cover all districts by Haemodialysis programme and also promote Peritoneal dialysis programme alongside as it is less restrictive for patients and requires less technical demand from institutions to expand the coverage of Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme (PMNDP) across the country. The states were also advised to make extensive use of the PMNDP portal, an API-based IT platform for collecting information on all beneficiaries receiving free dialysis services through the PMNDP.
States were asked to ensure registration using a 14-digit unique ABHA ID to avoid duplication and ensure transparency, efficiency, and interoperability. They were also asked to share APIs and integrate them with the PMNDP portal if they were using separate portals for comprehensive coverage. The virtual review meeting was attended by Roli Singh, AS & MD, Vishal Chauhan, Jt. Secy, Indrani Kaushal, Economic Advisor, and other senior officers from the Union Health Ministry, as well as NHM Mission Directors and other senior officials from States/UTs.
