Union Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala has launched AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR, a unique scheme to assist cooperatives play an important role in creation of healthcare infrastructure in the country formulated by the apex autonomous development finance institution under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

Rupala announced that NCDC would extend term loans to prospective cooperatives to the tune of Rs.10,000 Crore in the coming years.

He said that the ongoing pandemic has brought into focus the requirement of creation of more facilities. NCDC’s scheme will be a step towards strengthening farmers welfare activities by the Central Government.

Rupala said that AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR scheme would revolutionize the way healthcare delivery takes place in rural areas. He also gave a call to existing cooperatives take up healthcare services as an activity for farmers.

Sundeep Nayak, MD, NCDC added that there are about 52 hospitals across the country run by cooperatives. They have cumulative bed strength of more than 5,000. The NCDC fund would give a boost to provision of healthcare services by cooperatives.

Ayushman Sahakar specifically covers establishment, modernization, expansion, repairs, renovation of hospital and healthcare and education infrastructure encompassing:

Hospitals and/ or Medical/ AYUSH/ Dental/ Nursing/ Pharmacy/ Paramedical/ Physiotherapy Colleges for running UG and /or PG programmes,         

Yoga Wellness Centre,

Ayurveda, Allopathy, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy and other traditional medicine healthcare centres,

Health care services for elderly,

Palliative care services,

Health care services for Persons with Disabilities,

Mental healthcare services,

Emergency Medical Services / Trauma Centre,

Physiotherapy centre,

Mobile Clinic Services,

Health Club and Gym,

AYUSH pharmaceutical manufacturing,

Drug testing laboratory,

Dental care centre,

Ophthalmic care centre,

Laboratory services,

Diagnostics services,

Blood Bank / transfusion services,

Panchkarma/ Thokkanam/ Kshar sutra therapy centre,

Regimental Therapy of Unani (Ilaj Bil Tadbeer) centre,

Maternal health and Childcare services,

Reproductive and Child Health services,

Any other related centre or services as may be deemed fit by NCDC for assistance,

Telemedicine and remote assisted medical procedures,

Logistics health, healthcare and education,

Information and Communication Technology related to digital health,

Health insurance accredited by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).