The PMSSY programme or Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana was initially introduced in March 2006 after being first announced in 2003. Its primary goals are to improve facilities for high-quality medical education in underserved States and to address inequities in the country's overall availability of affordable/reliable tertiary-level healthcare.

The state of health has gradually improved in India. Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has decreased to 50 per thousand live births, more than doubling from 32 years in 1947 to 66.8 years now. However, baby and maternal mortality rates, as well as malnutrition levels, are still relatively high.

 

Need for the Scheme

80% of specialists work in metropolitan areas, 700 million people lack access to specialized treatment and close to one million Indians every year pass away as a result of poor healthcare infrastructure. When it comes to the number of hospital beds that are available per 1000 people, India has a tremendous requirement. India only has slightly more than 0.7 hospital beds per 1000 people, compared to the global average of 3.96. Governments need to provide more financial support for the growth of public health facilities. Most governments spend up to 70% of their total health budget on salaries and compensation, leaving very little money for service growth.

 

Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana | UPSC IAS IPS IFS

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To give superior tertiary healthcare infrastructure, medical education, and research facilities a considerable boost across the nation, the Indian Government has been establishing new AIIMS. The Government of India passed the AIIMS Act, which allows for the establishment of various AIIMS to assist the establishment of these critically essential institutions in the nation. According to the Act's requirements, these new AIIMS are referred to as Institutes of National Importance and will operate as autonomous institutions under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Indian Government.

 

Objectives

According to the Act, the following goals for the new AIIMS are listed:-

(a) To create teaching strategies for undergraduate and graduate medical education across all of its branches in order to show all Indian medical colleges and other affiliated institutions the high calibre of medical education that can be provided.

(b) To achieve self-sufficiency in postgraduate medical education.

(c) To bring together educational facilities of the highest calibre in one location for the training of employees in all significant disciplines of health activity.

 

Implementation

The following actions have been planned for AIIMS to carry out in order to promote the objects mentioned above:-

Ensure that contemporary medicine and other associated areas, such as the physical and biological sciences, are taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels; Experiment with novel medical education techniques to reach suitable standards for both undergraduate and graduate programmes; Facilities for research in the many fields of these sciences should be made available; Develop the faculty for India's many medical institutions.

The establishment of six institutes along the lines of AIIMS and the upgrading of 13 already-existing Government medical college institutions make up the first phase of the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana(PMSSY). At an estimated cost of Rs 840 crores per institution, it has been agreed to establish six AIIMS-like facilities, one in each of the states of Bihar (Patna), Chhattisgarh (Raipur), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal), Orissa (Bhubaneswar), Rajasthan (Jodhpur), and Uttaranchal (Rishikesh).

These States were chosen based on a variety of socioeconomic metrics, including the human development index, literacy rate, population living in poverty, and per capita income, as well as metrics related to health, including the population-to-bed ratio, the prevalence of serious infectious diseases, the infant mortality rate, etc.

Each institution will have a 960-bed hospital (500 beds for the medical college hospital, 300 beds for specialties and super specialties, 100 beds for accident trauma and ICU, 30 beds for physical medicine and rehabilitation, and 30 beds for Ayush), which will offer medical facilities in 42 specialties and super specialties. The medical college will accept 100 undergraduate students and provide facilities for delivering PG and doctorate courses in various disciplines, generally in accordance with the standards set by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Nursing Council.

In addition, 13 current medical facilities located across 10 States would be improved for a total investment of Rs. 120 crores (Rs. 100 crores from the Central Government and Rs. 20 crores from the State Government).

In the second phase of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana(PMSSY), the Government has approved the setting up of two more AIIMS-like institutions, one each in the States of West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and the upgradation of six medical college institutions, namely Government Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab; Government Medical College, Tanda, Himachal Pradesh; Government Medical College, Madurai, Tamil Nadu; Government Medical College, Nagpur, Maharashtra; Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College of Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh; Pt. B.D. Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak.

In the third phase of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana(PMSSY), it is proposed to upgrade the following existing medical college institutions, namely Government Medical College, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh; Government Medical College, Rewa, Madhya Pradesh; Government Medical College, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh; Government Medical College, Darbhanga, Bihar; Government Medical College, Kozhikode, Kerala; Vijaynagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Bellary, Karnataka; Government Medical College, Muzaffarpur, Bihar.

 

Pros 

• Every citizen will get treatment in any part of India.
• Six AIIMS-like medical institutions will be set up under this scheme.
• The Government will upgrade and modernize thirteen existing medical colleges to foster quality medical education.

 

Cons

• According to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report from 2018, the AIIMS experienced a severe lack of academic and non-faculty positions, hampered the operation of various departments. Additionally, it required relying on contract workers acquired through outsourcing.
• Due to poor contract management and insufficient monitoring, there were execution delays of up to five years.
• Other errors in the construction included improper scope and quantity estimation, a delay in equipment purchase and installation, and the additional payment of contractors.

 

Programme Funding

An estimated 840 crores of rupees would be spent on each of the six AIIMS-like institutes. With an investment of Rs. 120 crores (Rs. 100 crores from the Central Government and Rs. 20 crores from the State Government) for each of the 13 already operating medical institutes. Each AIIMS-like facility is expected to cost Rs. 823 crores. The Central Government would provide Rs. 125 crores for each upgrade. The projected project cost for upgrading each medical college institution is Rs. 150 crores, of which the Central Government will pay Rs. 125 crore, and the various State Governments would bear the remaining Rs. 25 crore.

 

Conclusion

The main goal of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana(PMSSY) is to make healthcare accessible and inexpensive for regular Indian residents. In the past, it has been customary for only urban residents to benefit from increased financial security and easy access to high-quality healthcare services. Rural residents had to rely on the limited health services offered by rural hospitals and were frequently referred to larger medical institutions in cities.

However, each regular person will have access to the most excellent and dependable medical facilities thanks to PMSSY. The programme also aimed to modernize and improve the facilities of the currently operating medical institutions.