The states of Nagaland and Mizoram, both with Christian-majority populations, have renewed their request to the Union government for an exemption from the rebranding of the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres to Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs, The Wire reported. This renaming, announced by the Centre in November last year, has met with resistance due to its perceived association with the Hindu faith.
Both states have expressed their discomfort with the term “mandir,” arguing that it does not resonate with their predominantly Christian communities. Highlighting the sentiments of the church and local populace, officials from Mizoram and Nagaland have opted to retain the original “health and wellness centre” nomenclature while they await a response from the Centre regarding their objections, the Indian Express reported.
The initial communication about the rebranding came from the mission director of the National Health Mission, L.S. Changsan, in November last year. In January this year, Mizoram’s principal secretary, Esther Lal Ruatkimi, formally expressed the state’s concerns in a letter to the then Union health secretary.
“As you are aware, Mizoram is a Christian state with more than 90% of the population identifying as Christian. It is felt that in order to continue to garner public support for public health activities for health promotion, this rebranding may foster adverse sentiments among the populace towards the government. I, therefore, request you to kindly exempt Mizoram from this activity,” she wrote.
Mizoram reiterated its request in February, emphasizing the need for an exemption from the rebranding initiative.
Nagaland joined the appeal in March. V. Kezo, the state’s commission and secretary of health and family welfare, highlighted the potential backlash from the religious community and civil society. “The state government has serious reservations about such a move since it will offend the religious sentiments of the people of the state, and is likely to attract strong objections from the Church and civil societies… I am directed to convey the request of the state government that the state may be exempted from being required to rename the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres,” Kezo stated.
In a conversation with the Indian Express, Kezo mentioned that there had been no response from the Centre regarding their request. “We have not received any communication from the Centre on the request (to be exempted from the rebranding exercise),” he said.
In the Lok Sabha earlier this year, Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal questioned the Union health ministry about the rationale behind including the word “Mandir” in the rebranded name. He also inquired whether states and Union territories would have the flexibility to translate the term “Mandir” into local languages.
Responding to an unstarred question on February 9, Dr. Bharati Pawar, the then minister of state in the ministry of health and family welfare, explained, “Realizing the importance of Ayushman Bharat — Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWC) as India’s flagship program to progress towards Universal Health Coverage, the Government of India renamed all AB-HWCs as ‘Ayushman Arogya Mandir’ with the tagline ‘Arogyam Parmam Dhanam’ to realize the dream of Ayushman Bharat, i.e., Healthy India.”