AAP, BJP face-off deprived Punjab of health funds: Bajwa

Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa on Tuesday accused ruling AAP and the BJP-led Centre of depriving the state of Rs 450 crore in the National Health Mission (NHM) funds for 2023–24.

Bajwa said the ongoing tug-of-war between the state’s AAP government and the Union Health Ministry over the branding of the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres exposed both parties’ obsession with image-building over public interest.

“While the BJP claims to stand for the janata (public) and AAP for the aam aadmi (common man), their political vanity has ended up punishing both,” Bajwa remarked.

He condemned the AAP government’s unilateral decision to rebrand Ayushman Bharat centres as Aam Aadmi Clinics in 2023, calling it a self-serving act that violated national guidelines and invited financial penalties.

“The (Bhagwant Mann) Mann government chose political branding over people’s health and when forced to backtrack, the loss had already been inflicted on Punjab,” he said.

Bajwa also criticised the Union Government’s “retaliatory decision” to withhold Rs 450 crore in the NHM funds, terming it “vindictive and anti-people”.

“Instead of resolving the issue, the BJP government chose to punish Punjab’s poor by blocking essential health funds,” he said.