Provide safety gear to all sanitation workers before monsoon, says minister
The minister emphasised the government's commitment to safeguarding the dignity and lives of sanitation workers. 'All sewer and septic tank workers must receive Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits and safety devices before the monsoon,' he instructed. He also stressed the need to accelerate training and rehabilitation programmes for workers and to set up adequate Emergency Response Sanitation Units.
The MCD has been tasked with fast-tracking the survey in unauthorized colonies, using sanitary inspectors to identify manual scavengers. All departments were also directed to ensure that workers are brought under the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme.
Singh noted that the State Level Survey Committee for the identification of manual scavengers is in its final stages of formation. A meeting chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta is expected soon. He also urged District Magistrates to clear all pending compensation claims on a priority basis. The minister criticised the lack of action by previous administrations, despite a 2014 notification on manual scavenging.
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Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Why Ayushman Bharat payments are stalled in Jharkhand
The promise of Ayushman Bharat seems to be unravelling in Jharkhand. The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), meant to provide affordable and accessible healthcare to low-income families, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ranchi in 2018. More than 23 lakh people in Jharkhand have availed treatment under the scheme since then. But pending payments to the tune of Rs 190 crore and mounting are jeopardising the future of Ayushman Bharat in Jharkhand. Some 212 hospitals have not received payments since last June, and the rest 538 hospitals empanelled under the scheme await reimbursement since February this year. Hospitals in the districts of Hazaribagh, Koderma, Palamu, and Deoghar have already pulled out of the scheme citing the hold up in payments. And this may just be the beginning. An ambitious scheme AB PM-JAY is the largest health insurance scheme in the world. It provides a cover of Rs 5 lakhs per family per year to eligible beneficiaries for hospitalisation expenses in both government and empanelled private hospitals. At the moment, some 750 hospitals in Jharkhand are registered under the scheme, according to the Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI) and the Indian Medical Association (IMA). Current eligibility extends to the bottom 40% households, which is calculated based on deprivation and occupational data from the Socio-Economic Caste Census of 2011. The Prime Minister last year announced that coverage will soon be extended to all citizens aged 70 years and above. The cost of implementation of AB PM-JAY is shared between the Central and State Governments in a 60:40 ratio. According to Jharkhand officials, around 28 lakh families (some 1.5 crore people) are enrolled under AB PM-JAY in Jharkhand, with another 38 lakh families (roughly 2 crore people) covered through the state-run Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojana, for which the state bears the full cost. The way these schemes work is that beneficiaries are issued insurance cards, using which they can avail healthcare services in empanelled hospitals. These hospitals are then reimbursed on actuals by the government from the funds allocated under the scheme. Officials have confirmed to The Indian Express that there is no shortage of funds under the AB PM-JAY scheme, with Rs 2,284 crore allocated to the hospitals over the last 7 years. The problem is that beginning last year, the disbursement of these funds to hospitals has stalled. This is due to two main reasons. IRREGULARITIES & ED CASES: Last year, the National Anti Fraud Unit (NAFU), using AI, flagged 212 hospitals — 180 private and 32 government — for alleged irregularities in the implementation of Ayushman Bharat. These hospitals were subsequently placed 'on hold', which means that the further disbursement of funds to them was halted until the Enforcement Directorate (ED) completes its investigation. In April 2025, the ED conducted raids at 21 locations across Jharkhand, including prominent hospitals in Ranchi localities like Ashok Nagar, PP Compound, and Lalpur. These raids were linked to a CAG audit, which flagged alleged fraud, including the existence of ghost beneficiaries. The ED investigation is ongoing. Meanwhile, funds to the other 538 hospitals empanelled under the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Jharkhand, have also been stopped since earlier this year. This has been at the heart of the growing frustration in the state with the scheme. 'The ED is investigating 212 hospitals, till then the remaining hospitals also have to suffer,' said Dr Sayeed Ahmad Ansari, president of the AHPI, Jharkhand. Ansari and others have questioned why the hospitals not flagged by NAFU have also had their funding stopped. On Tuesday (June 3), Jharkhand Health Minister Irfan Ansari chaired a meeting with representatives of at least 200 hospitals and other senior officials. After the meeting he announced that the process to release funds to hospitals not under the ED scanner will be started at the earliest. A NEW GLITCHY PORTAL: Dr Anant Sinha, senior surgeon and president of the Jharkhand chapter of the IMA-affiliated Hospital Board blamed the stalling of payments on the introduction of a new web portal earlier this year. 'We were told the things would be streamlined by March… We are still waiting,' he said. Sinha is talking about HEM 2.0 which replaced the older Health Entitlement Management portal, a digital platform used for identifying, verifying, and managing beneficiaries under health schemes like AB PM-JAY. Doctors and officials claim that payments are held up at multiple stages, mostly because of procedural changes and technical shifts in the new web portal. Much of the current logjam is attributed to the launch of HEM 2.0, and the increased insurance cap which accompanied its introduction in February. (The Jharkhand government increased the insurance coverage from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh per family under the Mukhyamantri Abua Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, the state's co-branded version of AB PM-JAY, which has also expanded coverage to 38 lakh families in Jharkhand, including all ration card holders in the state). Critics say HEM 2.0 lacks essential filters which has led to backlogs and missing data. As per the officials, another problem is that the payment follows FIFO (First In, First Out) mode where bills are cleared in the order they were approved, not the order in which they are filed. This rigid flow has further slowed claim settlements. A political slugfest Dr Sinha said that non-payment of Ayushman Bharat dues has meant that he has been unable to pay his staff since March. He added that if the payments did not come in, he would stop taking Ayushman Bharat card holders as patients. 'The real loss is to the government and the public,' Sinha warned. AHPI and IMA have claimed that 60 of the 212 NAFU-flagged hospitals have shut down under financial duress. More closures may be on the way if the situation is not sorted out soon. This has made Ayushman Bharat a growing political issue in Jharkhand as well. Babulal Marandi, the state chief of the BJP and the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, accused Hemant Soren's government of failing to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the state. 'Ayushman Bharat, launched by PM Modi from Jharkhand, is now barely functional here,' Marandi said. He claimed that over 500 hospitals have not been paid since February 25, and more than 200 haven't received dues for the past 10 months. 'Hospitals are shutting Ayushman services. Patients are being left in the lurch,' he said. Health Minister Ansari, while countering the former CM's allegations, said that until the ongoing investigation is completed, no hospital will be paid. Ansari claimed that several hospitals linked to BJP leaders are under scrutiny. 'Let me be clear — those misusing the Ayushman scheme for corruption will not be spared,' he said. Shubham Tigga hails from Chhattisgarh and studied journalism at the Asian College of Journalism. He previously reported in Chhattisgarh on Indigenous issues and is deeply interested in covering socio-political, human rights, and environmental issues in mainland and NE India. Presently based in Pune, he reports on civil aviation, other transport sectors, urban mobility, the gig economy, commercial matters, and workers' unions. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn ... Read More
Mint
3 hours ago
- Mint
Experts call for tracking source, transmission of new covid cases
There is a greater need to understand the transmission of the new covid wave, a disease control expert said, at a time when the number of cases in the country is inching closer to 5,000. Communities were flu-like symptoms lead to a rush of covid-19 hospitalizations need an epidemiological investigation—a process to figure out how it spreads and stop the transmission—according to Dr. Sujeet Singh, who led the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) during the pandemic outbreak five years ago. This will uncover transmission dynamics, trends among hospitalized cases and epidemiological profile of cases, besides assessment of morbidity and associated severity, Singh said in an interview. 'There has been a recent rise in covid cases in Singapore, Hongkong, Korea and some other countries. In India also, there has been a substantial rise in the last fortnight. The rise from 257 cases around 25 May to over 3,900 cases on 1 June, 2025 points to increased transmission,' said Singh, former NCDC director. He added that at present, the strategy of test, track and treat should be aimed at understanding the current scenarios, particularly in states where rise is being seen. On Thursday, India registered a 4866 active covid-19 cases, as per health ministry data. As many as seven deaths were reported in the previous 24 hours, two each in Delhi, Karnataka and three from Maharashtra. The total number of deaths have climbed to 51 since 1 January 2025. India's latest covid wave is caused by two new coronavirus variants, NB.1.8.1 and LF.7, mutations of the Omicron offspring JN.1 variant. 'Concerns over the sharp spike of covid-19 cases in India can be due to increased testing in influenza-like illnesses (ILI) or acute respiratory infection (ARI) cases. Testing can be focused in hospitalized ILI cases. Thereafter, the communities from where increased admission of ILI cases (which are covid-19 positive) need to be further epidemiologically investigated. The mortality in high-risk elderly population and persons with co-morbidities also needs to be investigated,' he said. The health ministry has directed all states and union territories to ensure health preparedness measures across health facilities to control the transmission of the infection. Assessment of oxygen supply system is being done in hospitals as part of the health preparedness measure. Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya, a public health expert, said that while there is fairly good understanding of SARS CoV2 virus to make inferences, it would be worthwhile for the government to regularly release epidemiological data of covid-19 cases. 'As of now, We don't know from where these covid-19 cases are being reported, what are their distribution patterns, do they have co-morbidities. The government should put data for epidemiological analysis to understand severity and pattern of the disease. The covid-19 virus has become mild to milder and people should not panic due to the spike in the covid. Furthermore, there should be a better communication approach and bring in more science and epidemiology while discussing on covid-19,' said Dr. Lahariya. Meanwhile, the government has advised the public to practise hand hygiene, cough etiquette, and avoid crowded places when unwell. The health ministry has noted that individuals with acute respiratory illness should self-monitor and seek medical care if symptoms worsen. According to Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar, a former scientist at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and currently national chair at ICMR, right now, India's surveillance strategy should focus more on hospitalization and death rates. 'The number of cases being reported in the country is not important unless we know whether the hospitalization and deaths rated are increasing. The number of cases increases if one tests more and more people. These absolute numbers are of limited value as this is a mild infection. Rather, these covid numbers create panic in the people. And if, the hospitalization and death rates increase, sequencing those samples to see whether the virus has mutated or is the circulating variant will help design an appropriate strategy further. If it is an old omicron strain, then there is nothing to worry but, if it is a new strain, then measures need to be taken.' Covid has become endemic, but the good news is that the newer variants continue to come from the omicron family over the last three years, Gangakedkar said.
India Today
3 hours ago
- India Today
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inaugurates a new waiting area at AIIMS
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inaugurated the newly-constructed Dhanuka Waiting Area at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, on Wednesday. The facility has been developed under a CSR initiative by Dhanuka Group, a leading agro-product Gupta also participated in a hawan and pooja ceremony as part of the inauguration. Speaking to the media, she said AIIMS Delhi has witnessed major improvements over the past 10 years, especially since 2014, when the hospital was in poor is the biggest hospital in the country and handles about five lakh OPD cases annually. Before 2014, the hospital was in disarray. In the last 10 years, the facilities have improved significantly. "I thank the Dhanuka Group for this much-needed waiting area,' said CM Rekha Gupta. The Chief Minister said that many attendants accompanying patients have to sit on the roads due to the lack of proper space. The newly built waiting hall aims to provide a comfortable resting space for these visitors.'This is a big relief for families. CSR efforts like these not only improve services but also enhance the beauty of our city,' she added. TREE PLANTATION AT AIIMS UNDER 'EK PED MAA KE NAAM'Chief Minister Gupta also planted a tree on the AIIMS campus as part of the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign, a green initiative to promote environmental Rekha Gupta stated that significant infrastructure projects worth Rs 35,000 crore under the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) are currently under construction in the national capital during a press conference at the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. She also mentioned that the earlier projects with a value of Rs 64,000 crore have been completed, as well as another set of projects valued at Rs 24,000 crore, which will begin soon."I thank the Central Government and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for developing roads and infrastructure in Delhi with the support of these enormous expenses."The Chief Minister also stated that the government stands by its commitment to fixing healthcare and transport infrastructure with the added figures for people's inputs from ANI
