The awards were started two years ago to inculcate a culture of cleanliness in government hospitals

All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi. Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, NEIGRIHMS, Shillong and AIIMS Bhubaneshwar were among the awardees at the third Kayakalp Award ceremony in the capital on Thursday. The awards are given to hospitals  for their work in maintaining high standards of sanitation and hygiene in public health facilities.

Union health minister J P Nadda along with his deputy Anupriya Patel gave away the awards to the winners. Under the Central Government Hospitals A category, the first prize of Rs 2.5 Crore was given to the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi. Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh was judged the runner-up in this category with Rs.  1.5 crore prize money. Commendation Award of Rs. 50 Lakh was given to JIPMER, Puducherry along with Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi. MGIMS, Wardha received the Certificate of Appreciation.

 NIMHANS, Bengaluru, AIIMS, Rishikesh,  AIIMS, Raipur, NITRD, New Delhi and  AIIMS, Bhopal . AIIMS, Jodhpur received the Certificate of Appreciation

In the group B category, the winner was NEIGRIHMS, Shillong with Rs 1.50 Crore and the Runner-Up  was  AIIMS, Bhubaneswar with Rs 1.00 Crore. Commendation Award  of Rs 50 Lakh was given to  NIMHANS, Bengaluru, AIIMS, Rishikesh,  AIIMS, Raipur, NITRD, New Delhi and  AIIMS, Bhopal . AIIMS, Jodhpur received the Certificate of Appreciation. Nadda also felicitated the District Hospitals, PHCs and CHCs for winning the awards in their respective states and union territory.

“Kayakalp has been instrumental in inculcating a sense of ‘ownership’ amongst all stake holders. This sense of ‘ownership’ has translated into “commitment for Swachhta,” he said during the function. He congratulated the awardees and said that cleanliness is no more a one-time activity but is integrated in our day-to-day practices and has become a habit. Kayakalp has played a pivotal role in gaining trust and confidence of community in public health facilities. He further added that the zest and zeal shown by the hospitals and their collective efforts in improving cleanliness, hygiene and infection control practices should continue unabated.

Referring to the ICT based application ‘Mera Aspataal (My Hospital)’ that captures patients’ feedback about their experience in the health facilities on the services that they received or sought to receive, Nadda said that about 1000 government hospitals are now connected and patients can now give  their feedback on various aspects of healthcare services including cleanliness, housekeeping, behavior of the hospital staff, etc. “We are now making a paradigm shift by seeking their views on quality of experience in a public healthcare facility. This will help us improving the experience of people at a health facility and will also increase the accountability of the public health systems,”  Nadda said.