World Bank commits $100 million for health project in Uttarakhand 

World Bank has approved a $100-million loan for a health project in Uttarakhand to provide medical services in the state. (Representational Image)

The World Bank has approved a $100-million loan for a health project in Uttarakhand to provide medical services in the state. The financing agreement from World Bank’s arm International Development Assistance (IDA) for ‘Uttarakhand Health Systems Development Project’ was signed in New Delhi, an official statement said.  One of the components of the project would entail engaging private sector for health services in these regions while the other on stewardship and system improvement. Total cost of the project is $125 million, of which $25 million will be funded by the state government.

Under the project, there will be multiple self-contained clusters of clinical services from operators on a PPP model. They will provide services for free or at nominal charges, the statement said. Health services under the project will have a robust oversight and monitoring mechanism that will be fully integrated with the expanded health insurance programme in Uttarakhand. “This will be concurrent with strengthening the state’s capacity to implement the project,” it said. The project is slated to be completed by 2023.