Health minister Abitkar's statewide Arogya Samvad Yatra to begin from Nanded on November 1

A statewide Arogya Samvad Yatra is being organised to make the state's public health system stronger, better in quality and closer to the people. The yatra is being held on the initiative of Public Health Minister Prakash Abitkar. It will begin at Nanded on November 1 in the presence of the minister and will continue till December 5, 2026.

Through the yatra, the minister will speak directly to the public. The state's health services will be reviewed, and the focus will be on removing the shortcomings in them.

The yatra has been linked to the "Majha Gaon, Arogyasampanna Gaon" campaign. Under it, awareness will be spread on public sanitation, clean water supply, nutrition, waste water management, disease control and healthy lifestyles. There will also be an emphasis on increasing village-level public participation in disease prevention.

The yatra will not be merely a campaign to inform people about health schemes. The effort is to decide improvements in the health system on the basis of people's experiences. The emphasis will be on strengthening the accountability of health services by improving coordination among health committees, elected representatives, health workers, medical professionals and ordinary citizens.

125 new institutions will be inaugurated during the yatra. A meeting and discussion will also be held with one of the following: the District Integrated Arogyavardhini Committee, the Assembly Constituency Committee, the Rogi Kalyan Samiti, the Jan Arogya Samiti, and the Village Health, Nutrition and Sanitation Committee. Government health institutions will be visited and inspected on the spot.

Schools and anganwadis where screening has been done under the Rashtriya Bal Arogya Karyakram will be visited to review the scheme. Hospitals empanelled under the Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Jan Arogya Yojana will also be visited, where private doctors and patients will be spoken to.

Home visits are also planned. Interactions will be held with those receiving palliative care, sickle cell patients, mothers who had institutional deliveries, children who underwent surgery under the national child health programme, tuberculosis and leprosy patients, beneficiaries of the Janani Suraksha Yojana, cancer screening patients and patients who have availed of the Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya Yojana.

The yatra will examine how much of the real benefit of health schemes is reaching citizens, what facilities health institutions have and what difficulties arise in serving patients. The ground reality at five primary health centres and two rural hospitals in each district will be assessed. Services from health sub-centres to district hospitals, municipal corporation hospitals, women's mental hospitals and special hospitals will also be reviewed.

The yatra, organised to understand citizens' needs, identify shortcomings in health services and make improvements based on suggestions received, will prove important in bringing the state's public health system closer to the people. The secretary, commissioner, directors, joint directors and deputy directors of the Public Health Department, district health officers, district surgeons and the chief officers of various health schemes will take part in the yatra.