Pradhan Mantri Swasthye Suraksha Nidhi is in the news nowadays. The announcement of this scheme will bring some revolutionary change in the Indian Health sector. As a citizen of the country, you must know what Pradhan Mantri Swasthye Suraksha Nidhi’ is and how it will help the people of India.
The COVID 19 has shown some bitter reality to the people and the Government. During the pandemic, all the countries have taken some steps to offer better medical facilities to their people. Indian Government has also worked in this direction and announced ‘Pradhan Mantri Swasthye Suraksha Nidhi’.
The Union Cabinet has approved ‘Pradhan Mantri Swasthye Suraksha Nidhi’ (PMSSN). The scheme will be a flagship scheme of the health ministry. The meaning of Swasthye Suraksha Nidhi is ‘an amount reserved for health security. As resembled by the name, PMSSN is about having a particular amount to spend on people’s health. In other words, in PMSSN, the Government will behave a reserved fund that will be used for the health and other health-related schemes launched by the Health ministry. The amount in PMSSN will help the Government of India to handle unexpected and critical situations. Let’s understand the need for PMSSN and what will be its earning sources;
What is ‘Pradhan Mantri Swasthye Suraksha Nidhi’ (PMSSN)?
‘Pradhan Mantri Swasthye Suraksha Nidhi’ or PMSSN is a non-lapsable fund that India’s Government will be having for the health sector. The fund in this particular scheme will be used in different health-related programs. After the announcement of PMSSN, all the flagship schemes of the health ministry will be financed from the fund available in it. It will make the health ministry more independent to handle the crucial issues like pandemic or Dengue or any other disease which get out of control on the district level. The Union Cabinet approved the PMSSN on 10th March 2020. Now the health ministry will be able to handle the emergency more smoothly.
The country had faced the lack of ICUs and other advanced facilities in 2020 when COVID-19 was high. The health ministry was not prepared to handle this exceptional situation, so the Government has to ask the countrymen to donate to PM National Relief Fund. To address the critical concerns and launch more health schemes, the health ministry can use the funds available in PMSSN.
According to the Union Cabinet’s official statement on PMSSN, it will provide a single, non-lapsable reserve fund for the share of health from the proceeds of health and education cess levied under Finance Act, 2007. Being a non-lapsable fund is the salient and essential feature of the scheme. Now let us understand where the PMSSN will get the money and how it will use it to better the health of Indians.
Earning Source for PMSSN
All the schemes announced by the Government get financed from the pocket of the people of India. The earning of the Government is the taxes imposed on the people, so directly or indirectly, the burden of schemes come into the pocket of the commoner of the country. But the PMSSN will get the Finance from the already present procedures of GOI. The base of PMSSN was developed in 2018 when the finance minister of India announced a health and education cess of 4% instead of 3% education cess in his budget statement.
According to the official statement of UC, PMSSN will get Finance under the Finance Act 2007. The share of health will be count from the proceeds of health, and education cess levied under the 2007’s finance act. So the common person will not have to bear any additional cost in the form of tax to get better health services in India. The earning under the scheme will not lapse and present for the people of India.
How will PMSSN work?
As mentioned above in the article, the PMSSN will be used in a few already existed schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), Ayushman Bharat, National Health Mission, Ayushman Bharat – Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs), Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), and many other. Apart from all the existing schemes, the future projects of the health ministry will be financed by the funds present in PMSSN. The health ministry will use the available funds of PMSSN in case of a medical emergency and the current situation. The present fundraised under PMSSN is $135M. The funds will be used to achieve the targets set in 2017 in National Health Policy.
The health ministry has to bear one more responsibility with the allotment of a particular fund in the form of PMSSN. The health ministry has to administrate and maintain the fund’s distribution from PMSSN within a financial year. Initially, the expenses on the scheme under MoHFW will be bear by the PMSSN, and later on, the schemes will get support from the Gross Budgetary System. The procedure to get help from PMSSN and GBS has been mentioned in the ministry’s statement in detail.
What is the need of PMSSN?
Many people must be having the question about the need for PMSSN at this time. The Indian Pharmaceutical companies have developed the vaccine of COVID-19, but the modernisation of Indian health centres is still required. In 2020, the world experienced a never seen before situation. The spread of the virus and the non-availability of world-class medical facilities has forced the GOI to provide a dedicated amount to the health ministry.
The PMSSN will provide the health ministry fund to run the existing schemes and announce more strategies for the people. The fund will also enable the health ministry to prepare for any emergency in future. You can understand the need of PMSSN from the following official statement released by the UC, “The major benefit will be enhanced access to universal and affordable health care through availability of earmarked resources while ensuring that the amount does not lapse at the end of the financial year”.
Bottom Line
The PMSSN will provide the health ministry fund to run the existing schemes and announce more strategies for the people. The fund will also enable the health ministry to prepare for any emergency in future. You can understand the need of PMSSN from the following official statement released by the UC, “The major benefit will be enhanced access to universal and affordable health care through availability of earmarked resources while ensuring that the amount does not lapse at the end of the financial year”.
To conclude, we can say that the announcement of PMSSN will be a revolution in the Indian health sector. The ordinary people can expect that the government schemes will reach the last person in the country and already available medical facilities will be better.
