Ayushman Sahakar Scheme: How does it Strengthen India’s

healthcare through cooperatives?

News: Recently, the Union Minister for Home and Cooperation informed the Rajya Sabha about the Ayushman sahakar scheme.

What is the Ayushman Sahakar Scheme?

Ayushman Sahakar is a financial assistance scheme launched by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC). Its primary goal is to provide loans to cooperative societies so they can set up, modernize, and run healthcare facilities, including hospitals, medical colleges, and diagnostic centers.

Key Objectives of the Scheme

The scheme is built to make healthcare affordable and holistic by involving the community directly. Its main objectives are:

• Infrastructure Support: To assist cooperatives in providing hospitals, healthcare education, and diagnostic facilities.
• Promoting AYUSH: To help cooperative societies establish and promote AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy) facilities.
• National Alignment: To help cooperatives align with the National Health Policy and participate in the National Digital Health Mission.
• Comprehensive Care: To cover the entire healthcare spectrum, including medical education, insurance services, and preventive healthcare activities.

Core Features and Eligibility

The scheme is specifically designed to be accessible and supportive of the cooperative model:

• Who can apply? Any cooperative society registered under any State or Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act is eligible, provided their bye-laws allow them to provide healthcare or health education services.
• Financial Corpus: The NCDC has earmarked a massive fund of ₹10,000 crores specifically for this scheme.
• Loan Details: The loans have a tenure of up to 8 years. This includes a moratorium of 1 to 2 years on the principal payment, giving the project time to become revenue-stable.
• Women Empowerment: In a significant move toward gender inclusion, the scheme offers a 1% interest rebate if the borrower cooperative society has a majority of women members.

Why is this scheme significant?

While the government and private sectors are major healthcare providers, the cooperative sector has a deep reach into rural and semi-urban India. By modernizing cooperative hospitals and helping them set up new clinics, the Ayushman Sahakar scheme ensures that quality medical care reaches the “last mile.” It effectively turns local cooperatives into healthcare hubs, reducing the burden on large city hospitals and promoting local employment in the medical and paramedical fields.