CM seeks PM Modi’s intervention in Centre’s fund blockade

MP, 1 Dec 2023, Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in the release of funds under the National Health Mission (NHM) which has been stopped on grounds of non-compliance with certain colour branding guidelines for health and wellness centres in Bengal. 

“It is most unfortunate that very recently I am informed that the union ministry of health and family welfare has withheld fund release under the National Health Mission (NHM) to West Bengal due to non-compliance with certain colour branding guidelines for health and wellness centers, despite other conditionalities being fulfilled. 

The withholding of fund release would adversely deprive the poor people of their benefit,” she wrote. 

TMC Banerjee in her two-page letter to the Prime Minister has stated that presently there are around 11000 functional health and wellness centres in the state which cater to over three lakh people everyday. 

The buildings have been constructed since 2011 (when TMC came to power) in accordance with the colour branding in the state. She maintained that changes in the colour brand by way of repairing so many buildings would involve significant infructuous expenditure. 

“I would earnestly request you to kindly intervene for the immediate release of NHM funds for West Bengal and for removal of specific colour branding conditionality for the health and wellness centres for release of funds under the NHM so that the poor people do not suffer from lack of quality health services,” she wrote. 

Banerjee in her letter has stated that Bengal has been providing affordable, accessible and quality health care free of cost to all. “There has been significant increase in our budgetary allocation to the healthcare in the last 12 years and many important public health initiatives such as construction of super specialty hospitals, Swasthya Sathi, Sishusathi, Matrima, Chokher Alo etc have been successfully launched in the last few years and a large number of people got benefited out of these,” she added. 

She has further reiterated that under NHM, West Bengal has always been the frontrunner in the implementation of different public health programmes and has been performing exceedingly well in setting up health and wellness centres in the state. The Centre has mandated yellow colour very close to saffron for the centres and recently they have sent a directive to all states including Bengal to name these as ‘Ayushman Bharat – Health and Wellness Centre’. 

There are over 1.60 lakh such centres across the country. The centre has threatened to further tighten noose on the release of funds if such directives are not followed. The centre has provided a December 31, 2023 deadline for fulfilling such criteria. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/cm-seeks-pm-modis-intervention-in-centres-fund-blockade-542505