With the Kerala government refusing to comply with the Centre’s directive on renaming Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWC) as ‘Ayushman Arogya Mandir’, Tamil Nadu has decided to go ahead with the rebranding exercise and retain the tagline ‘Arogyam Paramam Dhanam’ in line with the directive of the Government of India.
All AB-HWCs in the State will now be rebranded as ‘Maruthuva Nallavazhu Nilayam’ in both English and Tamil, with the tagline of ‘Arogyam Paramam Dhanam’ in English and ‘Noyatra Vazhve Kuraivatra Selvam’ in Tamil.
In November 2023, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare asked the States to rename the AB-HWCs as ‘Ayushman Arogya Mandir’ with the tagline of ‘Arogyam Paramam Dhanam’ in English and Hindi. Six logos were also specified. If any script other than Devanagari/English has to be used for branding, the full and exact title can be translated in the State language but the tagline has to be transliterated in the State language, the communication said.
In line with this, Tamil Nadu’s Health and Family Welfare Department has issued an order, dated January 5, 2024, to rebrand the HWCs with the tagline as instructed by the Centre. The Universal Health Coverage Scheme was implemented as ‘Anaivarukkum Nalavazhu Thittam’ through the National Health Mission (NHM) and 985 Health Sub-Centres, 716 Additional Primary Health Centres and 214 Urban Primary Health Centres in the State were turned into HWCs.
Following the instructions of the Union Ministry, the Mission Director of NHM, Tamil Nadu, requested the department to issue orders for rebranding of the existing HWCs. The government decided to accept the proposal and permitted branding of all government healthcare institutions designated as HWCs as ‘Maruthuva Nallavazhu Nilayam’ in both English and Tamil, with the tagline of ‘Arogyam Paramam Dhanam’ in English and ‘Noyatra Vazhve Kuraivatra Selvam’ in Tamil in line with the directives of the GoI.
Official sources confirmed that the instructions were modified and adopted as suitable to Tamil Nadu. While some districts have received information on the rebranding on the department-related WhatsApp group, some said they were yet to receive the communication.
A Health Department source in one of the northern districts said that last year, they were told to brand HWCs with ‘Ayushman Bharat’. “Initially, we painted the specified logos and uploaded the photographs in the portal given. However, we were told to add ‘Ayushman Bharat’ and upload again,” he said.
The State’s strategy has not gone down well at the field level. As a department officer said, “Besides focussing on renaming and rebranding, the government can concentrate on improving the quality of human resources and service delivery.”
