State Government Spends 25% Of Health Budget On Outsourced Services

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Most health services in Madhya Pradesh government hospitals are either outsourced or contractual. A large share of the health budget is spent on salaries, while around 25% is allocated to outsourced medical services.

About a quarter of the budget goes to outsourced services such as housekeeping staff, security guards and lab testing across district hospitals, civil hospitals, community health centres (CHCs) and primary health centres (PHCs). Moreover, staff under the National Health Mission (NHM) are largely contractual.

At district and civil hospitals, expenses on outsourced health services reach nearly Rs 15 lakh per month. At CHCs and PHCs, doctors and paramedical staff are contractual, while cleaning and sanitation staff and security guards are outsourced, receiving a minimum of Rs 10,000 per person. Typically, at least five security guards and an equal number of sanitation staff are deployed at each facility, resulting in roughly 20 25% of the budget being spent on these services. Certain equipment services, like CT scans and dialysis, are also outsourced.

The budget prioritises medical education, with substantial funding for existing medical colleges in Ratlam, Datia, Shivpuri and Satna, along with development of healthcare infrastructure through investment in community health centres, sub-health centres and PHCs.

For the 2025 26 fiscal year, the state has allocated Rs 23,533 crore to health sector, including around Rs 4,000 crore for NHM. Central grants supplement this, with Rs 8,561.22 crore allocated to the Public Health Engineering Department and Rs 5,108.44 crore to the Public Health and Family Welfare Department.

Amulya Nidhi, national convenor of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan India (JSAI), said, The state health sector has been largely outsourced and contractual because it lacks its own health policy and depends on the central government. In 2025 26, the state has a health budget of Rs 23,000 crore, in addition to Rs 18,000 crore for women and child health care and nutrition under WCD.

The MP Healthcare Investment Policy 2025 aims to strengthen medical infrastructure by encouraging private investment in multi-speciality and super-speciality hospitals, especially in underserved districts. This shows that after constructing buildings, the government outsources services while offering capital subsidies to reduce out-of-pocket expenses and strengthen maternal and child health services.

Veer Bhadra Sharma, director finance, said, Mainly outsourced services include housekeeping, security guards and lab testing in government hospitals. The major chunk of the budget is spent on salaries, followed by outsourced medical services. Funding from the central government depends on NHM proposals and national programmes.