JSA India Demands Accountability From Centre Over Rs 50,072 Crore Health Cess Not Transferred To PMSSN
New Delhi: Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), national network and coalition of public health professionals, grassroots activists, and civil society organizations recently raised the issues of fund worth Rs 6,646 crore collected as Health Cess during the 2024-25 fiscal year was not transferred to the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Nidhi (PMSSN).
In a statement issued on Monday, May 18, the national body, which serves as the Indian regional circle of the global People’s Health Movement (PHM) demanded accountability from the Union government.
The organisation pointed out that the non-transfer and underutilisation of these earmarked funds represent a profoundly missed opportunity to strengthen public health infrastructure, expand medical education, address longstanding shortages of human resources, reduce health inequities, and improve access to affordable, quality healthcare for millions of people across India.
“The funds could have strengthened emergency and critical care services, established oxygen plants, intensive care units, trauma and referral facilities, and created thousands of advanced public health laboratories to improve disease surveillance, outbreak detection, and epidemic preparedness,” it said.
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The organisation cited CAG’s audit report on the Finance Accounts of the Union Government for 2024-25, noting that the Ministry of Finance collected ₹21,085 crore as Health Cess during the fiscal year but transferred only ₹14,439 crore to PMSSN, resulting in a short transfer of ₹6,646 crore. However, the Ministry of Finance has continued the practice of not transferring the full amount of cess receipts to dedicated reserve funds under the Public Accounts of India, despite repeated observations over the years.
The JSAI representative Sanjeev Sinha and Amulya Nidhi said that the public health infrastructure and medical education are systematically being deprived of them, and no corrective measures are being taken to prevent such repeated non-expenditure (i.e. savings) under these grants, despite the availability of specified funds. “This naturally raises questions on how the current regime is weakening the public services and pushing the entire health services and medical education sector towards privatization,” Nidhi added.
