NEARLY ₹1,200 CRORE REPORTEDLY PENDING WITH PRIVATE HOSPITALS, PUTTING AYUSHMAN PATIENTS AT RISK. THE BJP GOVERNMENT MISLEADING PEOPLE WITH AYUSHMAN CLAIMS WHILE PUBLIC HEALTHCARE FACES STAFF AND RESOURCE SHORTAGES, THE FALLING SEX RATIO RAISES QUESTIONS OVER ‘BETI BACHAO, BETI PADHAO’ CLAIMS, SAYS SELJA.
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The Sirsa MP, Former Union Minister, General Secretary of All India Congress Committee and CWC Member Kumari Selja accused the Haryana BJP government of making tall claims in the name of the Ayushman scheme while the state’s healthcare system itself was facing a serious crisis.
Kumari Selja said government hospitals were struggling with shortages of doctors, paramedical personnel and other staff. She questioned how the government could promise better healthcare when important health services continued to depend heavily on contractual and other temporary arrangements. Citing departmental figures, Kumari Selja said the Health Department had 20,403 permanent employees against 27,269 sanctioned posts, while more than 47,000 personnel were reportedly working under various temporary arrangements. She said around 14,468 employees in the National Health Mission, 7,398 in Medical Education and Research and 2,234 in the AYUSH Department were working on contractual or other temporary terms. The government needs to explain how it can claim to have strengthened healthcare when its own system continues to face shortages of permanent staff,” she said.
Kumari Selja also raised concern over reportedly pending payments to private hospitals under the Ayushman scheme. She said doctors’ organisations had claimed that around ₹1,200 crore was pending, and that the payment dispute had affected Ayushman beneficiaries during the symbolic strike by private hospitals on September 1.She said reports had emerged from several places of difficulties in admitting new patients and conducting scheduled surgeries. Private hospitals had also reportedly warned of an indefinite suspension of services after September 15 if their dues remained unpaid. “If government hospitals lack adequate staff and private hospitals do not receive timely payments, where will poor patients go for treatment?” Selja asked.
Kumari Selja said the crisis was not limited to hospitals. She expressed concern over the declining sex ratio at birth in Haryana, saying the figure reportedly fell from 923 in 2025 to 900 by June 2026. The reported figure of 829 in Charkhi Dadri, she said, was particularly worrying.
Kumari Selja also questioned the functioning of the Haryana State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, pointing out that six member posts had reportedly remained vacant since December 2025 despite the appointment of a chairperson. She said the BJP government, which had been in power for nearly 12 years, must move beyond publicity and take concrete measures. Pending Ayushman payments should be released immediately, vacancies in government hospitals filled, dependence on temporary staff reduced and effective measures taken to address the declining sex ratio. Kumari Selja said that the People need more than slogans and cards. They need doctors, diagnostic facilities, medicines and timely treatment when they reach a hospital.
Haryana
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