Union Minister Suresh Gopi
Union Minister Suresh Gopi has posted on his social media page that the Centre has allocated Rs 1,759 cr for the health sector of Kerala. He has urged the MPs from Kerala to monitor its expenditure strictly. The grant has been allocated from the National Health Mission (NHM) fund for the health sector.
The Minister Suresh Gopi requested the Kerala MPs to forget party differences and participate in all District Development Councils like DISHA (Direct Intervention System for Health Awareness) and do active follow-up in the matter.
According to the minister, the Centre has allocated Rs 1,200.92 cr for all the 14 districts during the financial year of 2025-2026 and Rs 558.73 cr has been allocated for the period until August 24 of the 2026-2027 financial year.
Thus, a total sum of Rs 1,759.65 cr has been allocated for the Kerala health sector as the Centre’s allocation.
The Union Minister made it clear that the funds are to be spent on ensuring better treatment for ordinary people and to facilitate infrastructure, medicines and health services in the hospitals.
The Minister said that the Central Health Ministry’s instruction not to allocate more than half the NHM share for human resources should be complied with.
He said that the Central instructions include the directive not to spend the Programme Management Fund for the salaries of permanent employees; they should be paid from the state government’s budget.
Suresh Gopi asked the MPs to examine what percentage of the NHM fund is spent on treatment expenses and infrastructure in each district.
The Union Minister requested the MPs to maintain regular follow-up in the district development councils to make sure that deserving people get the benefit of the central fund.
Critics say that the announcement of the fund allocation on social media as an attempt to counter the Congress-led UDF government’s narrative on central funding. By publicly highlighting the Centre’s financial support for various welfare programmes and allocations to Kerala, it seeks to demonstrate the extent of central assistance to the state.
The move could also help the Centre avoid political blame over the availability and utilisation of central funds.
