Lucknow: A comprehensive divisional review meeting of the Health Department of Lucknow Division was held on Thursday at the auditorium of the Additional Director, Medical Health and Family Welfare. The meeting was jointly chaired by Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant and the Additional Director, Medical Health and Family Welfare.
The review meeting was attended by the Chief Medical Officers of all districts under Lucknow Division—Lucknow, Sitapur, Hardoi, Lakhimpur Kheri, Unnao and Raebareli—along with all District Programme Managers. State Quality Cell Advisor Dr Kamal Mishra also participated. Additional Chief Medical Officers at the district level and Medical Superintendents of all 118 Community Health Centres (CHCs) in the division joined the monthly review through video conferencing. Officials from divisional NHM management, SPMU, UPTSU and representatives of UNICEF were also present.
During the review, district-wise analysis was conducted for the period from April to November 2025, covering key health indicators including institutional deliveries, First Referral Units (FRU), family welfare programmes, routine immunisation, Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) certification of health facilities, screening of non-communicable diseases, eSanjeevani tele-consultation services, Ayushman card generation for ASHAs, and the performance of Ayushman Arogya Mandirs.
It was noted that achievements in antenatal care were lower compared to the previous year. Taking serious note of this, the Commissioner directed the Chief Medical Officer, Lucknow, to seek explanations from the Medical Superintendents of CHCs at Gosainganj, Sarojini Nagar and Mohanlalganj for the shortfall. In contrast, appreciation was extended to the Medical Superintendent and lady medical officer of CHC Sandila in Hardoi district for improved performance in Caesarean section deliveries.
While reviewing institutional deliveries, a decline in numbers was observed. In response, strict instructions were issued to all Chief Medical Officers to ensure 100 per cent registration of all private hospitals on the HMIS (Health Management Information System) portal. The Chief Medical Officer, Unnao, was specifically directed to strengthen tracking of deliveries taking place in private hospitals.
For First Referral Units, instructions were issued to increase Caesarean section services at Dalmau, Raebareli. All Chief Medical Officers were also directed to ensure proper cold chain arrangements at all delivery points using untied funds. In the area of immunisation, the Divisional Commissioner praised the District Immunisation Officer, Raebareli, for achieving 100 per cent coverage.
Under the family welfare programme, it was found that some health centres were not operational for services such as Antara, Chhaya and IUCD. Directions were issued to make all such centres operational immediately. Under the Urban Health Programme, officials were instructed to address gaps in human resources, health facilities and ASHA deployment. Vacant doctor posts were ordered to be filled through immediate interviews, with results to be declared without delay.
During the review of Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, it was observed that in all districts some Community Health Officers (CHOs) were not uploading their daily reports on the portal. The Commissioner directed all Chief Medical Officers to identify such CHOs and impose a penalty of 15 days’ salary deduction.
Progress under the NQAS programme was reviewed in detail. Where documentation was incomplete or processes were pending, district-level officials were instructed to update and complete them without delay. To improve the quality of tele-consultation services, nodal officers were directed to orient and regularly monitor all CHOs. All medical officers were instructed to remain online for tele-consultation services as per schedule.
The meeting also reviewed the weekly Chief Minister Arogya Mela held every Sunday. Instructions were issued that doctors and staff should not be granted leave on mela days except under unavoidable circumstances. Emphasis was laid on extensive publicity of the melas, provision of all available services to the public, improvement in service quality, and generation of ABHA and Ayushman cards.
Directions were also issued to ensure timely payments to ASHAs and ASHA Sanginis under various heads. All Chief Medical Officers were instructed to ensure that data for Ayushman cards of ASHAs is sent to the Government of India without delay. In blocks where maximum pendency of ASHA and ASHA Sangini data was found, the Commissioner directed that the salaries of the concerned BCPMs be withheld.
It was further decided that compliance and progress on all instructions issued during the meeting would be reviewed every month in the second week to ensure sustained improvement in healthcare delivery across the division.
