Lok Sabha Question No. 1004 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-25
Subject: Medical Services in Rural Areas
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav

## GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRYOF HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1004 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25 th JULY, 2025

## MEDICALSERVICES IN RURALAREAS

## †1004. SHRI SANJAY HARIBHAU JADHAV:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the basic facilities like essential equipment, availability of blood, neonatal care and 24-hour ambulance are unavailable in many Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and Sub-Centres in rural areas of the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has taken cognizance of the said issues, if so, the details of the immediate action taken by the Government in this regard;
- (c) whether the Government has taken cognizance of the fact that pregnant women have to travel a distance of 100 km or more for safe delivery due to lack of basic facilities required for delivery at Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and Sub-Centres in many rural areas;
- (d) if so, the details thereof including the steps taken to ameliorate the condition on the ground; and
- (e) the details of the rural areas facing unavailability of the said facilities across the country, State-wise?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV)

(a) to (e): The National Health Mission (NHM) provides support for improvement in health infrastructure, availability of adequate human resources in health facilities, to improve availability, affordability and accessibility to quality health care especially for the poor and vulnerable sections in urban, rural, and tribal/hilly areas. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provides technical and financial support to the States/UTs to strengthen the public healthcare system and in implementation of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCAH + N) strategy, based on the proposals received in the form of Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs) under NHM. Government of India provides approval for the proposals in the form of Record of Proceedings (RoPs) as per norms & available resources.

Under National Health Mission (NHM), Government of India has undertaken the followings steps to ensure the safe deliveries of pregnant women at Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and Sub-Centres (SCs) in rural area across the country.

-  Delivery Points established at PHCs and SCs to deliver the pregnant women by the trained health care professionals including Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs), Community Health Officers (CHOs), Staff Nurses and Medical Officers (MOs).
-  Birth Waiting Homes (BWH) established in remote and tribal areas to promote institutional delivery and improve access to healthcare facilities.
-  Capacity buildings of healthcare professionals to ensure safe delivery of pregnant women at PHCs and SCs
-  Skilled Birth Attendant (SBAs) training for ANMs, CHOs and Staff Nurses
-  Daksh training for ANMs, CHOs, Staff Nurses and medical officers
-  Dakshta training for Staff Nurses and medical officers
-  Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK) entitles all pregnant women delivering in public health institutions to have free and no-expense delivery, including caesarean section. The entitlements under JSSK for Pregnant women and Sick infants are:
-  Free drugs, diagnostics, blood and consumables
-  Free diet during stay in facilities (up to 3 days in case of normal delivery and 7 days in case of caesarean-section)
-  Free transportation from home to healthcare facilities, inter-facilities and drop back from healthcare facilities to home.
-  Exemption from all kinds of user charges

National Ambulance Services (NAS) under NHM was launched in the year 2012. Two types of ambulance services 108 (ALS/BLS) and 102 were launched. Dial 108 is predominantly an emergency response system, primarily designed to attend to critical care patients, trauma, accident victims, etc. Dial 102 services essentially consists of basic patient transport aimed to cater the needs of pregnant women and children though other categories are also taking benefit and are not excluded. As per NHM MIS on 31.12.2024, there are 3173 ALS and 15455 BLS available under NHM in the country.

To improve health infrastructure and services in public health facilities, the Government of India has laid down Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) 2022. These standards include norms for services, infrastructure, human resources, diagnostics, equipment, medicines etc. The IPHS also defines population norms for establishment and upgradation of the healthcare facilities. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has developed an Open Data Kit (ODK) toolkit under IPHS to conduct baseline assessments, identify gaps, and plan and implement corrective measures. NHM is providing support to address these gaps, ensuring the reach and meeting of essential standards for these facilities.