Punjab clears PGI's Rs 10-cr dues for Ayushman

Naina Mishra

Chandigarh, August 8

The Punjab Government has released dues amounting Rs 10.40 crore to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme.

In a span of a year, the PGIMER had treated over 14,000 patients from Punjab under the insurance scheme. The institute had stopped treating patients from Punjab under Ayushman after the dues accumulated to Rs 16 crore for seven months.

A day after the institute stopped treatment of Punjab patients under the scheme, the state government sanctioned Rs 100 crore to government hospitals of Punjab and Chandigarh, including PGIMER. The government hospitals of Chandigarh — GMSH-16 and GMCH-32 — have also received their dues — Rs 21 lakh and Rs 86 lakh, respectively.

While the GMSH-16 had stopped treatment of Punjab patients two weeks ago, the GMCH-32 stopped offering services in March after dues exceeded Rs 2.3 crore. However, no dues have been cleared for private hospitals by the state government so far.

The Principle Health Secretary, Punjab, had written to the UT Health Secretary requesting him to resume services for Punjab patients while assuring the dues would be cleared in a few days.