Health and education top agenda as Indian govt seeks to develop Jammu and Kashmir
21 Dec 2020
NEW DELHI — Following the removal of Article 370 last year, the federal government in India has taken a slew of development initiatives in the field of health and education to improve the overall well being of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and to create a congenial atmosphere for students to pursue their ambitions and realize their inner potentials.
1) SEHAT Scheme
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to roll out the Social Endeavour for Health and Tele-medicine (SEHAT) scheme in Jammu and Kashmir on Dec. 26. SEHAT scheme is a telemedicine health initiative launched by the Indian government on Aug. 25, 2015, in collaboration with Apollo Hospitals to facilitate people staying in rural areas to consult doctors online and also order generic drugs. Under the scheme, Common Service Centers (CSC) with the support of Apollo and Medanta Hospital telemedicine services are already being offered in many rural areas. Now with the launch of SEHAT health initiative Common Service Centers (CSC) will be extended to 60,000 centers in different cities of India. Preparations are underway to ensure its smooth implementation in Jammu and Kashmir and all arrangements have been completed for the effective roll-out of the scheme by the prime minister and it has been ensured that the process of card distribution is expedited so that maximum people take its benefits. In addition, the Union Territory administration has issued directions to utilize the services of Arogya Mitras effectively so that maximum people are covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
2) School Wellness Ambassador Initiative The federal government has constituted various coordination committees headed by the concerned Administrative Secretary of School Education Department and Health and Medical Education department to roll out school health and wellness ambassador initiative under the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Jammu and Kashmir. The coordination committee would monitor the progress of the program and ensure convergence between the different departments. The committee will resolve program-related issues and gaps at the Jammu and Kashmir level and also provide guidance to districts for effective implementation of the program. A separate coordination committee has been constituted at the district level which would be headed by the concerned Deputy Commissioner as its chairman. The School Health Program under the Ayushman Bharat is a joint collaborative program between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Human Resources and Development which targets both education and health implementers and is envisaged to facilitate an integrated approach to health programming and more effective learning at the school level. Two teachers in every school will be declared health and wellness ambassadors, preferably one male and one female, who will transact weekly health promotion and disease prevention information in the form of interactive activities,” the guidelines read. 3. Maintenance Allowance under PMSSS Under the Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS), the youths of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are supported by way of scholarship in two parts namely the academic fee and maintenance allowance. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has already released the entire academic fee for the year 2020-21 to all the institutions. The AICTE has now decided to release the installment of Rs 20,000 as maintenance allowance under PMSSS for the students of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The decision has been taken to support and empower students for completing their online studies. The amount shall be released to all the beneficiaries pursuing classes in Odd Semester (July-December 20). The subsequent installments shall be released once the students join physically at their respective institutions based on the verification of the continuation certificate issued by the Institution. The maintenance allowance had been fully released as per scheme guidelines till the end of the last academic year 2019-20. Subsequently, due to COVID-19, the academic institutions across India were closed and only online classes are going on. Since there is no hostel and mess expenditure involved, the maintenance allowance was suspended, till such time students physically join the institutes.