Minister for Health and Family Welfare V. Rajini has said that the number of procedures covered under the YSR Aarogyasri scheme will go up from 2,446 to 3,254 with effect from October 15.
When the YSRCP took the reins of power in May 2019, the number of procedures was 1,059. The government had spent ₹6,000 crore on Aarogyasri in the last three years, Mr. Rajini said while addressing the media here on Friday.
The scheme had covered 942 procedures at the time of its launch by former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, she said. “It has since been a boon for the poor who cannot afford to pay huge sums on health emergencies,” Ms. Rajini said.
A few high-end procedures were covered under the scheme, to which the government accorded top priority as part of its efforts to provide quality healthcare to the masses, she said.
The government pioneered the concept of Village Health Clinics (VHCs) for every 2,000 population. It was a significant initiative aimed at improving the primary healthcare services. A total of 10,032 VHCs were sanctioned with an outlay of ₹1,692 crore, and they would be ready by the end of 2022, she said.
Secondary healthcare services were being rendered through 17 district hospitals, 51 sub-district hospitals and 177 community health centres.
The Minister said the government was in the process of strengthening the existing medical colleges and constructing new specialty hospitals and medical and nursing colleges with a total cost of approximately ₹12,270 crore.
The establishment of 16 new medical colleges would make 1,850 MBBS seats available for aspiring doctors. These medical infrastructure works were targeted to be completed by the end of 2023.
The government’s endeavour was to make the primary and community health centres and area and district hospitals conform to the Indian Public Health Standards, and medical colleges and teaching hospitals meet the National Medical Commission norms, Ms. Rajini added.
