Rakshit Sharma, Ludhiana
Jun 14, 2025 09:38 AM IST
District nodal officer, AACs, Dr Seema Chopra, said, “We were asked by the higher-ups to change the branding only on the exterior of the buildings. We were told nothing about the interiors.”
While the health department had converted 65 Aam Aadmi Clinics (AACs) into Ayushman Arogya Kendras in January, the facilities’ interior keep bearing the branding of Aam Aadmi Clinic (AAC) and a picture of chief minister Bhagwant Mann on prescription slips. The change was made to restore central government’s funding under the National Health Mission (NHM).
CM Mann’s picture and AAC brandings on the exterior were removed and replaced with new boards bearing the changed name and logo.
District nodal officer, AACs, Dr Seema Chopra, said, “We were asked by the higher-ups to change the branding only on the exterior of the buildings. We were told nothing about the interiors.”
There were a total of 94 AACs in Ludhiana. The ones being jointly run by the state and Union governments were rebranded. The rest (29), which are completely funded by the state government, continue as AACs.
The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) criticised the state government’s move of retaining AACs branding on the interiors of the Aarogya Kendras. BJP district president Rajnish Dhiman said, “Earlier, the state was deprived of essential funding under the National Health Mission due to the AAP-led state government’s failure to comply with rules set for Aarogya Kendras, turning these health facilities into an avenue for advertisement. Now, if the Union government takes a strong note of this, and the funding is stopped again, the AAP will blame the Centre.”
“If the funding stops, it will be the people who will be at the receiving end,” he added.
Since 2023, the state government has opened 842 Aam Aadmi Clinics in the state. While some of these were new facilities built by the state government, others were opened at the already existing primary health centres and health and wellness centres, which were run by the Union and the state governments with contribution in the 60:40 ratio.
The Union government had stopped funding (to the tune of over ₹700 crore) to Punjab under the National Health Mission (NHM) in early 2023. After almost two years of tussle, the Union government and the state government had in November 2024 came to an agreement wherein the state agreed removing the AAC branding and Mann’s photos from the primary health centres and health and wellness centres to receive funds under the NHM.
