Health officials in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district were puzzled last month when they received ₹ 14.62 lakh from the state health directorate as financial aid to maintain medical equipment and purchase supplies for the Rajpur community health centre (CHC).
A few months ago, transfers and postings were also done for a hospital that was running only on paper,” he added. The allocation was made under ‘category-C’ of the state’s plan to strengthen CHCs for the 2025-26-period. In the district-wise order issued by the deputy director (hospital administration), directorate of public health and medical education, CHC Rajpur was listed as a functional facility with a full equipment list and a budget of ₹ 14.62 lakhs. Madhya Pradesh has 348 CHCs, 1,442 PHCs (primary health centres), 52 district hospitals and 161 civil hospitals. A 2021-22 study by Jan Abhiyan Parishad, an NGO working on health, found rural MP short of 245 CHCs, 1,045 PHCs and 4,134 sub-health centres. “Now the government wants to run 18 CHCs in PPP mode, but it has budget for a CHC that only exists on paper.
In his letter, accessed by HT, Rishishwar said that no “…CHC by the name of CHC Rajpur is operational in Guna district” and sought guidance on how to proceed with the “purchases”. “We have sought guidance regarding the allocation made for CHC Rajpur so that further action can be taken as per instructions,” Rishishwar said. “When the government is unable to run existing facilities, how can it allocate budget for a non-existing one?” said Amulya Nidhi, convener of Jan Abhiyan Parishad.
