In a major stride towards realizing Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini’s budget vision, the Haryana Health Department has launched a transformative initiative to upgrade state civil hospitals to match the standards of private healthcare facilities. This initiative is aimed at modernizing public healthcare infrastructure, enhancing patient experience, and reducing the burden on private hospitals. The Chief Minister chaired a comprehensive review meeting of district civil hospitals in Chandigarh on August 7, emphasizing that every patient visiting a civil hospital must be provided with all necessary medical facilities. The move aligns with the government’s commitment to deliver quality healthcare to all.
Under this visionary plan, the Health Department is renovating and upgrading essential infrastructure in hospitals including repairs of toilets, internal painting, and whitewashing to ensure clean and hygienic surroundings for patients. Eight district civil hospitals, namely Panchkula, Jind, Gurugram, Kaithal, Mandikhera (Nuh), Rewari, Sirsa, and Kurukshetra have already begun renovation work, while similar projects will soon commence in 13 more hospitals across Ambala, Bhiwani, Palwal, Karnal, Panipat, Sonipat, Jhajjar, Narnaul, Fatehabad, Faridabad, Rohtak, Hisar, and Charkhi Dadri.
The upgrades encompass critical services like electrical repairs, improved lighting, enhanced air conditioning for patient comfort, road repairs within hospital premises, directional signage for better navigation, fire safety enhancements, and landscaping to increase greenery in hospital campuses. These efforts are targeted at creating an efficient, safe, and healing environment for both patients and healthcare providers. The initiative is a pivotal step toward reducing public reliance on private hospitals by equipping civil hospitals with modern medical infrastructure.
The Chief Minister reaffirmed his budget commitment to modernize all civil hospitals and emphasized the government’s resolve to ensure uninterrupted services to patients. He stressed that hospitals must be equipped with essential diagnostic services like private wards, CT scans, ultrasounds, MRI, automated laboratories, blood banks, and X-ray machines. He instructed officials to maintain all equipment in optimal working condition and ensure sufficient skilled staff for operating these services efficiently.
Highlighting staffing issues, the Chief Minister announced that the recruitment process for 450 vacant doctor positions would begin shortly to bolster healthcare delivery. This measure is expected to significantly improve the availability of quality medical professionals across government hospitals in the state.
He also directed that Jan Aushadhi Kendras within district hospitals must operate round-the-clock and suggested that cooperative societies could manage these centers. Currently, these Kendras are run by hospital staff during working hours and provide medicines at significantly lower prices. The meeting revealed that there is ample stock of essential drugs in all district hospitals, with the list of available medicines expanding from 272 types in December 2023 to 534 types by mid-2025.
The state has also enhanced its offerings under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY/CHIRAY) scheme. In addition to the existing 114 government-reserved medical and surgical packages, five more procedures have been included. These include Phacoemulsification with foldable hydrophobic acrylic lenses, Abdominal Hysterectomy, Acute Exacerbation of COPD, Acute Gastroenteritis with severe dehydration, and Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy without CBD exploration. Ten more packages including total knee and hip replacements, tympanoplasty, hernia repair, appendectomy, adenoidectomy, hemorrhoidectomy, tonsillectomy, hydrocele, and circumcision are also proposed for inclusion.
The meeting also reviewed gender ratio progress in the state, showing improvement from 899 in July last year to 907 in July 2025. This improvement is attributed to stringent monitoring and inspection drives by the health department. A dedicated State Task Force led by the Additional Chief Secretary conducts weekly reviews every Tuesday. Reports from MTP centers are closely analyzed, and any abortions involving women with two or more living daughters are strictly monitored.
Furthermore, expectant mothers with one or more daughters are being connected with ASHA or Anganwadi workers for regular follow-up and assistance to ensure safe deliveries. Reverse tracking is being employed to prevent illegal MTPs and ensure maternal health support.
Present during the review meeting were Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, Principal Secretary to CM Rajesh Khullar, Additional Chief Secretary of Health & Family Welfare Sudhir Rajpal, Additional Principal Secretary to CM Dr. Saket Kumar, Mission Director NHM and Health Secretary Ripudaman Singh, Director of Medical Education and Research Yashendra Singh, MD of Haryana Medical Services Corporation Ltd. Dr. Manoj, and senior officials including DGHS Dr. Manish Bansal and Dr. Kuldeep Singh.
This news has been sourced from web media and verified through international news platforms.