Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Steps taken to strengthen the public healthcare system
NHM ensures universal access to equitable, affordable, quality healthcare through rural and urban missions, focusing on health system strengthening, RMNCH+A, and disease control
As of 30th June 2025, 1,77,906 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs have been operationalized by upgrading SHCs and PHCs to deliver free, comprehensive primary healthcare services under 12 service packages across rural and urban India
With an outlay of ₹64,180 crore (2021–26), PM-ABHIM aims to boost health infrastructure and pandemic preparedness through the development of AAMs, BPHUs, IPHLs, and CCBs across India
AB PM-JAY provides ₹5 lakh health coverage annually to 12 crore vulnerable families, and since October 2024, extends benefits to 6 crore senior citizens via the Vay Vandana Card regardless of socio-economic status
Launched in 2021, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission builds a unified digital health infrastructure with electronic health records, enabling seamless care across all healthcare levels
Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana addresses regional healthcare gaps by establishing 22 new AIIMS and upgrading 75 government medical colleges to enhance tertiary care and medical education
Since 2014, medical colleges increased from 387 to 780, UG seats from 51,348 to 1,15,900, and PG seats from 31,185 to 74,306
Posted On:
08 AUG 2025 4:51PM by PIB Delhi
The Government of India has taken multiple steps to strengthen the public healthcare system in the country to provide accessible and affordable health services to all citizens.
The National Health Mission (NHM) envisages achievement of universal access to equitable, affordable & quality healthcare services that are accountable and responsive to people’s needs. NHM encompasses its two Sub-Missions, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM). The main programmatic components include Health System Strengthening in rural and urban areas, Reproductive-Maternal-Neonatal-Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A), Health Systems Strengthening, and Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases.
In February 2018, the Government of India announced the establishment of 1,50,000 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AAMs), erstwhile Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs), across the country by December 2022. A total of 1,77,906 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs have been established and operationalized as on 30th June 2025, by transforming existing Sub-Health Centres (SHC) and Primary Health Centres (PHC) in rural and urban areas to deliver the expanded range of comprehensive primary healthcare services with complete 12 package of services that includes preventive, promotive, curative, palliative and rehabilitative services which are universal, free, and closer to the community.
Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) with some Central Sector Components (CS), which has an outlay of Rs. 64,180 Crores for the scheme period (2021-22 to 2025-26). The measures under the PM-ABHIM focus on developing capacities of health systems and institutions across the continuum of care at all levels–primary, secondary, and tertiary– to prepare health systems in responding effectively to the current and future pandemics/disasters. Administrative approvals have been accorded to States/UTs for FY 2021-26 for an amount of Rs. 33,081.82 Crore for the construction/strengthening of 10609 Building less-AAMs, 5456 Urban-AAMs, 2151 Block Public Health Units (BPHUs), 744 Integrated Public Health Labs (IPHLs) at the District level, and 621 Critical Care Blocks (CCBs).
Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri-Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) is a flagship scheme of the Government which provides health cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to 12 crore families, constituting the economically vulnerable bottom 40% of India’s population. On 29.10.2024, the scheme was further extended to cover 6 crore senior citizens aged 70 years and above, representing 4.5 crore families, through the Vay Vandana Card, irrespective of their socio-economic status.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched various digital initiatives. One of the major initiatives is Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), launched in September 2021. ABDM aims to create an online platform enabling interoperability of health data within the health ecosystem. The aim of this mission is to create an Electronic Health Record (EHR) of every citizen. ABDM envisages developing the backbone necessary to support the integrated digital health infrastructure of the country. The core components of the Mission include Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) for citizens, Health Professional Registry (HPR), Health Facility Registry (HFR), and ABHA Application. The digital health ecosystem created by ABDM supports continuity of care across primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare in a seamless manner.
The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) aims to correct regional imbalances in the availability of affordable tertiary healthcare services and to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country. The scheme has two components, namely, (i) setting up of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), (ii) Upgradation of existing Government Medical Colleges/Institutions (GMCIs). So far, the setting up of 22 new AIIMS and 75 projects of upgradation of GMCIs have been approved under the scheme in various phases.
The government has increased the number of Medical Colleges, Undergraduate (UG) and Postgraduate (PG) seats. There is an increase in Medical Colleges from 387 to 780; UG seats from 51,348 to 1,15,900, and PG seats from 31,185 to 74,306 from 2014 to date.
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Prataprao Jadhav, stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
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HFW/Steps taken to strengthen public healthcare system/08August2025/1
(Release ID: 2154166)