Centre Punjab govt agree for co-branding of ' aam aadmi clinics' State health minister

Chandigarh, Nov 12 (PTI) Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh on Tuesday said the state government and the Centre have reached a consensus on co-branding of 'aam aadmi clinics' set up in buildings funded by both the Centre and the state government.
     The development comes amid both the Centre and the Punjab government being at loggerheads over the issue of branding of the primary health centres and health wellness centres as 'aam aadmi clinics'.
     The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had even accused the Centre of withholding Punjab's share of funds under the National Health Mission.
     The minister on Tuesday said the Centre had reservations over the name and photo of clinics while the state government had reservations over the name proposed by the Union government.
     "We have reached a consensus," he told reporters here.
     He said the 'aam aadmi clinics' have been set up at the community health centres, primary health centres and rural and urban dispensaries.
     "It (co-branding) will not be applicable on buildings which are not owned by the health department," he said, while referring to the consensus reached between the state government and the Centre.
     "Where there is funding by the Centre and the state government in the ratio of 60:40, there will be co-branding (of clinics). Where there is co-funding, there will be co-branding (of clinics) but where there is state funding, there will be state branding," said Singh.
     The Union Health Ministry had earlier accused the Punjab government of converting Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres into 'aam aadmi clinics', a pet project of the ruling AAP.
     The Centre had claimed that Punjab had not adhered to the branding guidelines for Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centre, now known as Ayushman Arogya Mandir, violating guidelines on the scheme for special assistance to the states for capital investment 2023-24.
     It had also said the Punjab government violated the certain provisions of the memorandum of understanding, signed between the Union Ministry of Health and the state, by not following the branding guidelines and branding "Primary Health Centres-Health and Wellness Centre (PHC-HWCs) as Aam Aadmi Clinics and not as Ayushman Arogya Mandir".
     The state had also not followed the colour scheme nor displayed the six logos, it had said.
     The AAP government has set up more than 850 aam aadmi clinics, providing free medical treatment and medical tests.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)