Yet-to-be-opened health and wellness centres draining Kochi Corporation’s coffers

Only six out of 38 Health and Wellness Centres in Kochi are operational, facing issues with rented buildings and funding.

Only six out of the 38 Health and Wellness Centres allocated to the Kochi Corporation utilising the health grant under the 15th Finance Commission are operational even as the project fund continues to be drained by way of monthly rent on 12 buildings hired for centres, but are yet to start operations.

Hired buildings entail a monthly rent ranging between ₹21,000 and ₹40,000. As per provisions, the centres can be operated either out of own buildings of the civic body or rented buildings. The project was allocated to the Corporation during the 2021-22 financial year under which each centre was allocated a grant of ₹25 lakh each, including the salary of a doctor and three other employees.

A meeting held by the works committee to take stock of the project on Wednesday decided to open eight more centres, including six out of the 12 proposed in hired buildings, by August 15. Even thereafter, 24 centres allocated to as many divisions would still remain and, in many divisions, even buildings have not been identified. The meeting decided that in such cases, the possibility of shifting the location to other more proactive divisions would be explored.

The centres offer free healthcare and medicines and operate between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. with the aim of making their service available to the working class after their working hours. The project got embroiled in a controversy in the State following the Central government’s decision to rename the Health and Wellness Centres as ‘Ayushman Arogya Mandir.’

“It also delayed the project as the State government was initially reluctant to comply with that decision and eventually fell in line only when the Centre threatened to withhold the funds. The project is being run on multiple extensions and if the latest extension is not met, then the civic body will have to transfer the funds and the operations of the centres to the National Health Mission. In such an eventuality, the amount that the Corporation has spent as rent on non-operational centres would become an issue,” said BJP councillor and chairperson of the Corporation’s tax appeal committee Priya Prashanth. A centre in her division was opened in February this year.

However, Development Committee chairperson P.R. Ranish said the project still had three years left since the Centre had delayed the notification of the norms.