Rs 356 crore payments pending under Himcare health scheme: Shandil

Payments to the tune of over Rs 356 crore were pending under the Himcare scheme and over Rs 108 crore under the Ayushman scheme in the state. Health Minister Dhani Ram Shandil gave this information in the Assembly today in response to questions raised by MLAs Janak Raj (Bharmour), Randhir Sharma (Naina Devi) and Vipin Singh Parmar (Sullah). He reiterated that the government had not stopped the two schemes and in the past two years, up to February 20, 2025, around 1.20 lakh patients had been treated under the Ayushman scheme and around 5.68 lakh patients under the Himcare scheme.

The Himcare scheme, in particular, has become a bone of contention between the government and the Opposition. While the BJP accuses the government of stalling the yojana, the latter says it is being reformed by plugging loopholes.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar informed the House that the Himachal Pradesh Dairy Cooperative had procured 92,270,946 litres of milk from dairy owners between February 1, 2023, and January 31, 2025, and made Rs 342.34 crore payments.

In response to Dharamsala MLA Sudhir Sharma’s question, the Agriculture Minister said that an automatic milk processing plant was under construction at Dhagwar in Dharamsala. The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) was executing the project, he added.