NITI Aayog: Assessment report of District hospitals

According to the “Assessment report of District Hospitals” by NITI Aayog, a district hospital in India has 24 beds per 1 lakh population, on an average.

Key Findings

  • NITI Aayog’s study called “Best Practices in the Performance of District Hospitals” was released on September 30, 2021.
  • This report was prepared, after assessing 707 hospitals across 36 states and Union Territories in 2018-19.
  • As per study, Bihar is having the lowest average of number of six beds per 1 lakh population.
  • Puducherry is having the highest number of 222 beds per one lakh population.
  • District hospitals in India is having a range of 1 to 408 beds per 1 lakh population.
  • In 217 district hospitals, there have at least 22 beds for every 1 lakh population.
  • In 15 states and UTs, the average number of beds in a district hospital was lower than what recommended by the IPHS 2012 guidelines. These states include- Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana Maharashtra, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Standard number of beds

According to Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) 2012 guidelines, there should be at least 22 beds per one lakh population in district hospitals. This figure is based on district population average of 2001 Census.

Significance of the study

The findings of the report are significant because it was conducted just before the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. Findings of the report mean that when India faced the pandemic, public health infrastructure across the nation including at district level, was not adequate.


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