Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) The Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund PMNRF) are utilized primarily to render immediate relief to families of those killed in natural calamities like floods, cyclones and earthquakes, etc. and to the victims of the major accidents and riots. In addition to this, the PMNRF provides financial assistance to indigent patients for treatment of major diseases at Government/ PMNRF empanelled hospitals to partially defray the expenses. Disbursements are made with the approval of the Prime Minister. Applicants can apply for grant of financial assistance through an application form addressed to the Prime Minister. Applicants, applying for grant of financial assistance for medical treatment, are required to enclose two passport size photographs of patient (one pasted on application, another stapled with application), copy of residence proof, original medical certificate incorporating the type of disease and estimated cost of expenditure and copy of his/her income certificate. After receipt of application, the same is considered and disbursements are made at the sole discretion of the Prime Minister, keeping in view availability of funds and prior commitments of the PMNRF. Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant (HMDG) Financial assistance is provided under HMDG to the poor patients with family income less than Rs.1,25,000/- annually and suffering from major illness and undergoing treatment in Government Hospitals/Institutions, to defray a part of the expenditure on hospitalization/treatment, in cases where free medical facilities are not available. Criteria laid down for sanctioning grants The broad criteria laid down for sanctioning such grants are: Reimbursement of expenditure already incurred is not permissible. Prolonged treatment involving recurring expenditure is not permissible. Financial assistance is not admissible for diseases of common nature where treatment is not expensive. Financial assistance is not admissible for T.B. cases for which free treatment is available under National T.B.Control Programme. Central as well as State Government employees are not eligible for grant under rules. Only those having annual family income up to Rs.1.25,000/ - and below are eligible for financial assistance from Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant (HMDG) Financial assistance limits are as follows: Rs.75,000/-, if the estimated cost of treatment is upto Rs. 1,25,000/-; Rs. 1,00,000/- if the estimated cost of treatment is above Rs. 1,25,000/- and upto Rs. 1,75.000/-; and Rs. 1,25,000/- if the estimated cost of treatment is above Rs. 1,75,000/- Application process Patients can apply for financial assistance under the Umbrella Scheme of RAN through either offline or online modes. Offline submission of applications can be made through any Government hospital by patients belonging to those States/UTs, the NFSA data of which, is not integrated on National Health Authority (NHA)’s IT platform. For online mode (for States/UTs which are integrated on NHA’s IT platform), the Government hospital generates RAN ID of the eligible patient and, subsequently, the application is processed further through the Transaction Management System (TMS). Upon approval, confirmation is sent to the bank for reserving the fund for the patient and treatment commences. Antyodaya beneficiaries from States/UTs where National Food Security Act (NFSA) data has been integrated with the National Health Authority’s (NHA) IT platform, as well as PM-JAY beneficiaries requiring treatment not covered under PM-JAY, are eligible to avail benefits under the Umbrella Scheme of Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) through the online mode. Financial assistance for eligible patients is released to the treating hospitals/institutes To avail financial assistance under HMDG, the patient is required to submit : A copy of the prescribed proforma application duly filled in by the treating Doctor/HOD and duly countersigned by the Medical Superintendent of the Hospital from where the patient is receiving the treatment, Ration card no. /PM-JAY ID/ Eligible SECC Famílies Aadhaar authentication (mandatory) Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) The RAN was set up in 1997 to provide financial assistance to patients, living below poverty line prescribed from time to time and who are suffering from major life threatening diseases related to heart, liver, kidney and cancer cases, etc., to receive medical treatment at any of the super specialty Government hospitals / institutes or other Government hospitals. The financial assistance to such patients is released in the form of ‘one time grant’ to the Medical Superintendent of the hospital in which the treatment is being received. The process of approval of treatment in case of RAN (up to the threshold of Rs 15 lakhs) will be completely decentralized. Hospitals have been empowered to approve the treatment under RAN based on defined eligibility criteria. However, for HMDG, the final approval will be given by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare(MoH&FW), Government of India. For patients suffering from life threatening diseases, where time is a premium, this would facilitate commencement of treatment of poor patients found prima facie eligible for assistance under the Scheme by these hospitals/institutions. This would also enable to curtail the procedural delay for treatment, which would bring relief to thousands of patients annually. RAN - Health Minister’s Cancer Patient Fund (HMCPF) Under the Health Minister’s Cancer Patient Fund (HMCPF) the criterion is as under: The financial assistance is provided for treatment of the patients at Regional Cancer Centres (RCCs) / Tertiary Care Cancer Centres (TCCCs), State Cancer Institutes (SCIs) and other Government hospitals/institutes having cancer treatment facilities. The Health Minister’s Cancer Patient Fund under Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) provides financial aid up to ₹5 lakh for cancer treatment to patients below the poverty line. The maximum financial assistance admissible under the Scheme will be ₹15 Lakh. It covers treatment at 27 Regional Cancer Centres (RCCs), with ₹50 lakh revolving funds allocated to each center. Established in 2009, the scheme ensures accessible and affordable cancer care for underprivileged patients. Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Related resources Application Form for financial assistance under Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi and Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant (HMDG) FAQs on RAN