Nadda writes to all MPs seeking inputs on NHM

Last month the Prime Minister had created a group of ministers, headed by Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar, with a mandate to increase interaction between the government and BJP MPs

Union Health Minister JP Nadda has written to all MPs asking for their inputs for the National Health Mission (NHM) before the programmes for the next financial year are finalised. The letter comes following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directive to ministers after the electoral drubbing in Bihar to engage more with party MPs and also tour the country to spread the message of good governance.

In his letter, dated December 29, Nadda wrote: “I may inform you that the process of PIPs (Programme Implementation Plan) preparation for the financial year 2016-17 has been initiated and states/UTs are expected to submit their PIPs in January 2016. Since approvals under NHM can be given only through the PIP route, if you have any proposal to be considered, you may get the proposals incorporated in the state PIP, through the district level planning process, so that it can be finally discussed and considered by the NPCC (National Programme Coordination Committee), depending on the resource envelope of the state.”

As reported by The Indian Express last month, the PM had created a group of ministers, headed by Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar, with a mandate to increase interaction between the government and BJP MPs. Nadda, who is part of that group, has now made the exercise even more broad-based by seeking inputs from all 800-odd MPs for the planning of the flagship health programme. This, sources in the ministry said, will also ensure that the elected representatives have a say in the PIPs drawn up by states regardless of which party they belong to.

The PIPs are the backbone of the NHM with each state giving a complete roadmap for the year ahead on how and under what heads it plans to spend the money allocated to it under the scheme. Ordinarily, PIPs are prepared by the states depending on their assessment of their health requirements.