Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav has said that bringing a comprehensive transformation in Madhya Pradesh’s health services is one of the government’s top priorities. Chairing a detailed review meeting of the Public Health and Medical Education Department on Wednesday, he stressed fast-tracking reforms, modernising healthcare facilities, and widening access to medical education across the state.
Dr. Yadav instructed officials to ensure that more hospitals and doctors are brought under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. He said that hospitals or doctors who are not yet empanelled must also be added so that maximum citizens can receive cashless treatment benefits.
He directed the department to expedite the recruitment of doctors and explore hiring private practitioners for Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs) with better honorariums and on-call arrangements. The Chief Minister also said that medical students whose fees are paid by the government—bonded doctors—must be required to serve within Madhya Pradesh, especially in tribal and remote regions, with attractive incentives.
Dr. Yadav added that with the rapid expansion of new medical colleges in the state, demand for doctors will significantly increase. Bonded doctors should be promoted, their remuneration revised, and their services utilised in new medical colleges and field hospitals. He confirmed that the government is preparing an amendment to the recruitment rules for bonded doctors; the proposal will soon be placed before the Cabinet.
Deputy Chief Minister (Medical Education) Rajendra Shukla, Minister Narendra Shivaji Patel, Chief Secretary Anurag Jain, and senior officials were present in the meeting.
Strengthening Healthcare Delivery
Dr. Yadav emphasised that timely and transparent delivery of benefits under all health schemes is essential. Strengthening field-level accountability, he said, will directly improve the quality of health services. Coordinated departmental functioning and planned implementation remain the core drivers of government goals.
Officials informed that revised recruitment rules for bonded doctors are under preparation.
The CM also instructed strict monitoring of unnecessary C-section deliveries in private hospitals and misuse of 108 ambulance services, including instances of ambulance drivers taking patients to private hospitals forcefully.
The Chief Minister appreciated the state’s performance in cardiac care, noting that over 84,000 cardiac surgeries were performed in government hospitals over the past two years at significantly lower cost than private institutions. He also praised the decision to accord guard of honour to 38 voluntary body donors.
Expansion of Medical Infrastructure
Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla briefed the meeting on future plans:
Government aims to operationalise new medical colleges under construction in Rajgarh, Mandla, Chhatarpur, Ujjain, Damoh and Budhni by 2028.
One district will be developed as a Medical Tourism Hub.
Catheterization labs (Cath Labs) will be established in all divisional headquarters by 2028.
The target is to reduce maternal mortality rate to 100 per lakh live births by 2028.
FSSAI has approved a ₹41.07 crore plan for strengthening food safety administration, while a ₹211 crore five-year plan has been submitted to CDSCO for drug administration reforms.
