Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda, today held a comprehensive review meeting with the Health Ministers and senior officials of Rajasthan and Maharashtra to evaluate healthcare delivery mechanisms and fast-track the implementation of priority national health initiatives. The discussions centred on reinforcing public health infrastructure, improving patient-centric services, strengthening regulatory frameworks, and advancing India’s commitment to eliminate tuberculosis as a public health challenge.

During the review, Shri Nadda underlined the critical role of a strong and vigilant drug regulatory system, stressing that end-to-end oversight—from manufacturing to last-mile distribution—is indispensable to ensure quality, safety, and public confidence. He called for adoption of best regulatory practices and emphasised that patient satisfaction, compliance, and regulatory supervision must be pursued as a sustained and continuous endeavour. Reviewing the progress of the Free Drugs and Free Diagnostics Initiatives, the Union Health Minister urged both States to address supply-chain inefficiencies and close monitoring gaps.

Union Health Minister expressed the need for establishing more Jan Aushadhi Kendras and AMRIT Pharmacy stores in these States. He stated that strengthening this network would play a crucial role in further widening access to quality and affordable medicines for the people of these States. During the meeting, the State of Rajasthan highlighted that the establishment of Ayushman Arogya Mandirs should be population-based, particularly to address scattered habitation patterns and ensure effective primary healthcare coverage.

Shri Nadda highlighted that timely and quality diagnostics are foundational to effective healthcare delivery and must be robustly integrated across all levels of care—primary, secondary, and tertiary. He noted that while clinical services depend heavily on doctors, hospital administration and regulatory compliance require professional management structures. Particular emphasis was placed on strengthening regulatory oversight of blood banks, hospital operations, and patient safety standards.

Reaffirming the national resolve to eliminate tuberculosis, Shri Nadda stressed the need for district and block-specific strategies, with intensified screening, diagnostics, treatment adherence, and nutritional support. He emphasised that TB elimination efforts must be driven in mission mode with close and regular monitoring at the grassroots level.

Union Health Minister also proposed conducting sensitisation workshops for Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs), encouraging them to actively engage with Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) and Block Medical Officers (BMOs) through structured review mechanisms. He reiterated that Jan Bhagidari, or people’s participation, is crucial for strengthening accountability, improving health outcomes, and building trust in public health systems.

The Health Ministers of Rajasthan and Maharashtra assured the Union Health Minister of their full cooperation and commitment to working closely with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to strengthen implementation and improve outcomes across all priority health programmes.

Shri JP Nadda underscored the importance of the Public–Private Partnership (PPP) model and Viability Gap Funding (VGF) in accelerating TB elimination and strengthening health system interventions. He also reiterated the Centre’s continued support to both States through National Health Mission interventions, public-private partnership models, expansion of medical education capacity, viability gap funding, and infrastructure development support. He emphasised that the Union Government remains committed to providing technical assistance, capacity building, and handholding support to address state-specific public health priorities. Shri Nadda stated that similar consultative engagements with Health Ministers of other States would be undertaken in the coming days as part of a mission-mode approach to health sector reforms. The Union Health Minister earlier met State Health Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Haryana in the last fortnight.

The meeting concluded with a shared commitment to enhance drug regulation, strengthen diagnostic services, professionalise hospital administration, expand medical education, and accelerate progress towards a TB-free India, reflecting the spirit of cooperative federalism in strengthening the country’s public health architecture.

Senior officials and representatives from the Government of Rajasthan present at the meeting included Shri Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Minister of the Medical & Health Department; Ms. Gayatri A. Rathore, Principal Secretary, Medical & Health and Family Welfare; Dr. Amit Yadav, Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM) Rajasthan; Dr. T. Shubhamangala, Commissioner, Food Safety & Drug Control and Additional Mission Director (NHM) Rajasthan; Shri Naresh Kumar Goyal, Commissioner, Medical Education; and Dr. Ravi Prakash Sharma, Director, Medical, Health and Family Welfare.

Maharashtra delegation comprised Shri Prakash Abitkar, Minister for Public Health and Family Welfare; Shri E. Ravendiran, Secretary-2, Public Health Department; Dr. Kadambari Balkawade, Commissioner (Health Services) and Managing Director, National Health Mission (NHM) Maharashtra; Dr. Nitin Ambadekar, Director, Health Services.

Senior officials from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare were also present, including Smt. Punya Salila Srivastava, Union Health Secretary; Ms. Aradhana Patnaik, Additional Secretary and Mission Director (NHM); Shri Rajit Punhani, Chief Executive Officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI); and Dr. Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), among others.

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HFW–HFM Meets Maharashtra and Rajasthan Health Ministers/2^nd January 2026/2

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