Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs Boost Rural Healthcare in Udhampur

With 146 centers now operational, residents, particularly pregnant women, have experienced better access to medical services and facilities.

Health and Wellness Centers, also known as Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs, have significantly improved healthcare in rural areas of Udhampur district, Jammu, and Kashmir. 

With 146 centers now operational, residents, particularly pregnant women, have experienced better access to medical services and facilities.

Highlighting the progress made in the last 18 months, Udhampur’s chief medical officer, Anil Manhas, said, "In the last one to a half years, healthcare facilities have improved greatly in Udhampur. 146 such healthcare centers are functional in the district. Primarily, we do screening here, and if a suspected patient is found, we refer them to a higher level.’’

He also shared that free medicines are provided in these centers. “Infrastructure has improved... Along with physical health, we also focus on mental health and arrange yoga classes in the centers," he said.

Holistic Healthcare Approach

The Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs initiative, led by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, aims to shift from a selective approach to comprehensive healthcare. 

These centers provide a wide range of services, including preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative care, ensuring that healthcare is accessible to all, free of charge.

Anil Manhas elaborated on the scope of services offered, stating, "Infrastructure has improved significantly. Free medicines are provided, and along with physical health, we also focus on mental health by arranging yoga classes at the centers."

Two-Component System

The Ayushman Aarogya Mandir initiative comprises two complementary components. The first component involves setting up 1,50,000 Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs nationwide to deliver comprehensive primary healthcare. 

These centers are designed to be universal and free, focusing on wellness and providing a broader range of services close to the community.

According to the initiative's official website, "Under its first component, 1,50,000 Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs will be created to deliver comprehensive primary health care that is universal and free to users, with a focus on wellness and the delivery of an expanded range of services closer to the community."

The second component is the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), which offers health insurance coverage of INR five Lakhs per year for secondary and tertiary care to over 10 Cr poor and vulnerable families.

As of now, 1,73,763 Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs are operational, including 1,27,637 sub-health centers, 23,908 primary health centers, 5,108 urban primary health centers, 11,806 Ayurveda, Yoga, and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy centers, and 5,304 urban health and wellness centers.