Ministry
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is the Government of India's apex department for public health. It runs national disease and immunisation programmes, funds the state-delivered National Health Mission, and owns the Ayushman Bharat architecture — the world's largest government health-assurance scheme. Working through two departments and bodies such as the National Health Authority and the Indian Council of Medical Research, it is the institution that sets India's health policy and steers its pandemic response.
Updated
- Headquarters
- Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi
- Departments
- 2 (Health & Family Welfare; Health Research)
- Budget 2026-27
- ₹1,06,530 crore
- Flagship
- Ayushman Bharat (world's largest health-assurance scheme)
Role
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare sets national health policy and runs the programmes that sit above India’s state-delivered health systems. Health is constitutionally a state subject, so the Union ministry works mostly through money and standards: it co-funds the National Health Mission with the states, runs national disease-control and immunisation programmes, regulates drugs through the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, sets medical- education norms via the National Medical Commission, and funds biomedical research through the Indian Council of Medical Research. It operates through two departments — Health and Family Welfare, and Health Research.
Its largest single undertaking is Ayushman Bharat, the umbrella under which the National Health Authority runs the PM-JAY insurance scheme, the network of Ayushman Arogya Mandirs for primary care, and the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. The ministry is also the government’s lead institution for epidemic surveillance and pandemic response, a role tested severely during COVID-19 and central to India’s engagement with the World Health Organization’s pandemic- preparedness framework.
Desk maintained by IndiaStand editorial cycles. Officeholders are transient; this dossier tracks the institution.
Timeline since 1947
- reference
Ministry of Health constituted
Health became a Union portfolio at independence, later expanded to Health and Family Welfare.
- reference
National Rural Health Mission launched
The flagship programme to strengthen rural public-health systems, later folded into the National Health Mission.
- reference
Department of Health Research created
A second department was carved out to house biomedical research, with the Indian Council of Medical Research under it.
- reference
AYUSH separated into its own ministry
Traditional-medicine systems (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy) were moved out into a standalone Ministry of AYUSH.
- reference
National Health Policy 2017 adopted
Set a target of raising public health spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2025 — a target that remained unmet as of the mid-2020s, with combined central and state government health spending around 1.8% of GDP in 2021-22 per PRS Legislative Research.
- reference
Ayushman Bharat launched
The first Health and Wellness Centre opened in April and PM-JAY, the ₹5-lakh insurance cover, launched in September 2018.
- analysis
COVID-19 second wave and oxygen crisis
The March–May 2021 wave overwhelmed hospital and medical-oxygen supply chains, driving later investment in oxygen and hospital infrastructure.
- official
Cabinet approves PM-JAY cover for all aged 70 and above
On 11 September 2024 the Union Cabinet approved ₹5-lakh cover for all seniors aged 70+ irrespective of income, to be issued via a new distinct card (later launched as the Ayushman Vay Vandana Card).
- official
Union Budget 2026-27 allocation of ₹1.06 lakh crore
The ministry was allocated ₹1,06,530.42 crore, about 10% above the revised estimates of 2025-26.
Frequently asked
- What is Ministry of Health and Family Welfare?
- The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is the Government of India's apex department for public health. It runs national disease and immunisation programmes, funds the state-delivered National Health Mission, and owns the Ayushman Bharat architecture — the world's largest government health-assurance scheme. Working through two departments and bodies such as the National Health Authority and the Indian Council of Medical Research, it is the institution that sets India's health policy and steers its pandemic response.
- When was Ministry of Health and Family Welfare established?
- Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was established 1947.
- What does Ministry of Health and Family Welfare do?
- Its remit covers National health policy and disease-control programmes, The National Health Mission (funding state health systems), Ayushman Bharat — PM-JAY insurance, Arogya Mandirs, the Digital Mission, Medical education and professional regulation (via the National Medical Commission), Drug regulation (CDSCO) and biomedical research (ICMR), Epidemic surveillance and pandemic preparedness.
- What is the latest on Ministry of Health and Family Welfare?
- As of 2026-07-05: Union Budget 2026-27 allocation of ₹1.06 lakh crore. The ministry was allocated ₹1,06,530.42 crore, about 10% above the revised estimates of 2025-26.