Panjab Agrees to Rename Clinics, Schools to Unlock Funds from Center

The Panjab govt. has agreed to rename nearly half of its Aam Aadmi Clinics (AACs) and remove CM Bhagwant Singh Mann’s photo from their facades to secure USD 76.9M in National Health Mission (NHM) funds that had been withheld by the Union govt. for the past 18 months (SDW Vol 2 Issue 34, Story 6). Out of approximately 870 AACs in the state, around 400 clinics are undergoing the name change. The Union govt. had stopped NHM funds in Feb 2023 saying AAP was misusing funds by indulging in self promotion. The AAP govt. had blamed the Union govt. for the stalemate over the non-release of NHM grants and an additional USD 130M under special assistance. Panjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Balbir Singh confirmed that discussions with the Union govt. have nearly reached a consensus. He explained that the name changes will not apply to clinics fully funded by the state govt., but where they are in joint funding (60:40 between Center and state), co-branding will be implemented. Meanwhile, Panjab has also initiated the renaming process for 233 govt. schools under the Pradhan Mantri (Prime Minister) Schools for Rising India scheme, marking the end of a months-long standoff between the BJP-led Union govt. and AAP-led Panjab govt. Panjab had earlier opted out of the scheme (SDW Vol 2 Issue 29, Story 8) favoring its own ‘Schools of Eminence’ and ‘Schools of Happiness’ programs, which led to the Union govt. withholding USD 59K in Samagra Shiksha (holistic education) funding, essential for teachers’ salaries and school operations.