AAP Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Sandeep Pathak slammed the central government for the poor state of India’s healthcare system, exposing gaps in public health infrastructure and flaws in the Ayushman Bharat scheme. He criticised the BJP for neglecting the middle class and prioritising politics over people’s welfare. Highlighting AAP’s governance model, he urged the Centre to strengthen primary and district hospitals instead of launching scattered schemes.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday during a discussion on health and welfare, Dr. Sandeep Pathak stressed that healthcare is not an issue that can be divided between the Centre and states. “If we keep looking at healthcare through this lens, the country will never be able to bear the consequences. Our children and families will continue to suffer. This is a national issue that concerns every citizen,” he said.
Highlighting past healthcare failures, the AAP MP reminded the House of the 2014 vasectomy camp tragedy in Chhattisgarh, where ten women died on the very first day of surgery. “In Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College, 63 children lost their lives due to disruption in oxygen supply. The same hospital saw over 5,000 child deaths in 2016 and more than 6,000 in 2014. In Maharashtra’s Nanded, a government hospital witnessed 33 deaths in a single day, including 12 children. Why? Because there was a severe shortage of doctors and medical staff,” he stated.
Dr. Sandeep Pathak further said that this crisis is not limited to one state—it is the grim reality of India’s healthcare system as a whole. “Surely, the government must have set some targets or made some plans. A budget must have been allocated. But my question is—are these targets enough? Is the budget sufficient?” he asked.
Referring to the 2017 National Health Policy, the AAP Rajya Sabha MP pointed out that it had promised quality healthcare for every citizen through two key schemes—National Health Mission (NHM) and Ayushman Bharat. “NHM was meant to provide financial support to state governments to improve healthcare infrastructure. It was supposed to transform district hospitals. But today, the reality is stark—travel to any district in the country, and you’ll find either there is no hospital, or there are no doctors, or there are no medicines, or diagnostic tests are unavailable. And even where all these facilities exist, there are no vacant beds to admit patients,” he said, adding that this is the unfortunate state of government hospitals across India today.
Dr. Sandeep Pathak criticised the central government over the country’s healthcare system, highlighting alarming gaps in public health infrastructure. He stated, “The central government conducted a survey asking all healthcare institutions to conduct self-assessments. This survey found that over 80% of government hospitals in the country were unfit and of poor quality. Today, India has only 10 doctors per 10,000 patients, whereas other countries have nearly 30 doctors per 10,000 patients. In urban areas, the number of doctors is relatively better, but in villages, the shortage is severe. Coming from a village myself, I know the struggles of a poor villager who is forced to sell his belongings just to afford medical treatment.”
Dr. Sandeep Pathak strongly criticised the design of the Ayushman Bharat scheme, calling it flawed in its very foundation. He said, “The scheme claims to provide health insurance of up to ₹5 lakh per year to 40% of families living below the poverty line. However, the issue begins with the identification of beneficiaries. The government initially listed 10 crore people under the scheme, but only 2 crore were found eligible, leaving out 8 crore people. Later, the government decided to abandon the beneficiary matching process altogether, stating that treatment would be provided to any patient who comes forward.”
Referring to the CAG report, Dr. Sandeep Pathak exposed large-scale fraud and irregularities in the Ayushman Bharat scheme. He remarked, “This scheme is not designed for patients, but for hospitals. Unlike CGHS and private insurance schemes, where empanelment is based on hospitals, Ayushman Bharat is implemented based on diseases. This allows hospitals to selectively offer treatments. A hospital can simply declare that it will only treat eye ailments and nothing else, or that it will conduct surgeries but not provide other treatments.”
He continued, “If a patient undergoing surgery suddenly develops an eye problem, they will be told that only the surgery is covered under the scheme, and they must pay separately for eye treatment. This fundamental flaw in the scheme’s design makes it a money-making opportunity for small hospitals. Many of them conduct unnecessary surgeries just to claim insurance, while those who genuinely need major operations do not receive proper treatment. On the other hand, diseases that can be treated with medicines are being turned into surgical cases just to exploit the scheme.”
Sandeep Pathak criticised the government for neglecting the middle class in its healthcare policies. He stated, “You have created the National Health Mission and Ayushman Bharat for low-income groups, but there is no scheme for the middle class. The very people who pay taxes to the government are left out of these healthcare benefits. It is because of the central government’s dirty politics that our healthcare system has collapsed. Politicians can access treatment anywhere they want, but the poor are denied quality healthcare.”
“The government has allocated only 1.4% of the budget to health, showing that its real agenda is just to deliver speeches. Today, India lacks well-equipped government hospitals, enough doctors, sufficient medical college seats, and even basic medicines in hospitals. One of the primary reasons behind this crisis is the meagre healthcare budget,” he added.
Dr. Sandeep Pathak pointed out how political parties fail to prioritise healthcare and education as electoral issues. He remarked, “It is this country’s misfortune that political parties do not see health and education as vote-winning issues. They believe elections are not fought on these concerns. The day our political class realises that healthcare and education must be kept away from dirty electoral politics, the country will move forward. In Delhi, we have shown that it is possible.”
Highlighting AAP’s governance model, Dr. Sandeep Pathak said, “AAP’s politics and ideology are centred around schools and hospitals. But in Punjab, they are blocking funds meant for the National Health Mission. Right now, as I speak in Parliament, the BJP government is renaming and shutting down Mohalla Clinics in Delhi. This is the mindset with which they are running the country.”
Taking a direct jibe at PM Modi, Dr. Sandeep Pathak referred to his past remark, ‘Maan liya andhera ghana hai, par diya jalana kahaan mana hai’ (I accept that the darkness is deep, but who has forbidden lighting a lamp?). He countered, “Then why don’t you light the lamp? Light it, and we will protect it. We all must work together in the nation’s interest to light that lamp.”
Calling for urgent healthcare reforms, he urged the government to focus on strengthening primary and district hospitals. “This country has around 800 district hospitals. I ask, if the Prime Minister, his entire cabinet, the entire ruling party, the opposition, and the whole country come together, can we not transform these 800 hospitals? This is not a difficult task. My request to the central government is simple—stop launching scattered health schemes. First, fix our primary and district hospitals, and then design policies around them.”
