Assam Arogya Nidhi

What is Assam Arogya Nidhi?

Assam Arogya Nidhi, often written simply as AAN, is the Assam government's medical financial assistance scheme for people who cannot meet the cost of treating a serious illness. The Health & Family Welfare Department of the Government of Assam is the nodal department, and the scheme is administered through the National Health Mission, Assam. It was launched in 2013 and remains one of the state's principal health safety-net programmes.

According to the National Health Mission, Assam, the scheme provides financial assistance of up to Rs 3,00,000 to poor and needy families with an annual income of less than Rs 5,00,000, particularly for costs incurred during hospitalisation by families who have already exhausted the financial limit available under PMJAY or the state health assurance scheme.

How the sanctioning limits work

• The Chairperson of the sanctioning committee can clear grants of up to Rs 2,00,000.
• The State Level Committee decides cases seeking assistance above Rs 2,00,000 and up to Rs 3,00,000.
• An expert committee of specialist doctors from Gauhati Medical College examines the medical merits and recommends eligible cases.

Assam Arogya Nidhi is a reimbursement and assistance scheme, not an insurance card. There is no premium, no enrolment period and no policy number. A family applies when a specific illness has been treated or is being treated, with the bills and medical records for that episode.

The Health & Family Welfare Department's own page records that under AAN the Government of India contributes 50 per cent of the funds sanctioned by the State Government, and that treatment is available at all government hospitals along with more than 30 empanelled private institutions across India, including hospitals in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai as well as seven within Assam.

Which diseases does Assam Arogya Nidhi cover?

The scheme covers general and specialised treatment of life-threatening diseases and of injuries caused by natural and man-made disasters. The published categories are:

• Heart disease and cardiac surgical procedures
• Cancer, including radiation therapy and chemotherapy
• Kidney and urinary diseases, including dialysis and transplant-related care
• Orthopaedic conditions
• Thalassemia
• Bone marrow transplant
• AIDS
• Chronic mental illness requiring surgical treatment
• Diagnostic imaging services

The list is framed by category rather than by a closed schedule of procedures, which means the expert committee at Gauhati Medical College has room to assess a serious condition on its medical facts. Routine outpatient illness, cosmetic procedures and ordinary consultations are outside the scheme's purpose.

Who is eligible for Assam Arogya Nidhi?

You can apply if:

• You are a permanent resident of Assam, evidenced by voter ID, Aadhaar or driving licence.
• Your annual family income is below Rs 5,00,000, certified by the Revenue Circle Officer.
• The illness falls within the life-threatening categories the scheme covers.
• Treatment was taken at a government hospital or a registered private hospital.
• There is no age limit: patients of any age may be considered.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are a government employee or a government pensioner. Both are expressly excluded.
• Your annual family income is Rs 5,00,000 or more.
• You are not a permanent resident of Assam.
• Treatment was taken at a facility that is neither a government hospital nor a registered private hospital.
• The condition is not a serious or life-threatening illness of the kind the scheme lists.

Families whose PMJAY or state health assurance cover has run out mid-treatment are the scheme's core constituency rather than an exception, and the requirement to submit PMJAY documentation exists so that the committee can see exactly what has already been paid.

What documents are required for Assam Arogya Nidhi?

Photocopy every bill before you submit. Originals go into the file at the Mission Director's office and are not returned, and families who later need the same bills for an employer or a charitable trust find themselves stuck.

How to apply for Assam Arogya Nidhi

1. Download the Assam Arogya Nidhi application form from the National Health Mission, Assam website at nhm.assam.gov.in, under the scheme's page.
2. Obtain an income certificate from your Revenue Circle Officer showing annual family income below Rs 5,00,000. This usually takes the longest, so start here.
3. Collect the medical papers from the treating hospital; discharge summary, prescriptions, original bills and receipts, and a photograph of the patient attested by the treating doctor.
4. Attach identity and residence proof (voter ID, Aadhaar or driving licence), a photocopy of the bank passbook, and your PMJAY or Ayushman documentation showing the cover already used.
5. Fill the form completely, stating the diagnosis, the hospital, the amount already spent and the assistance sought.
6. Submit the complete file to the Office of the Mission Director, National Health Mission, Assam, Saikia Commercial Complex, Christian Basti, Guwahati 781005, and obtain a dated receipt.
7. Await the expert committee's examination. Specialist doctors from Gauhati Medical College review the medical merits and recommend eligible cases for sanction.
8. Receive the sanctioned amount by direct bank transfer into the account whose passbook you submitted.

How to check the status of an Assam Arogya Nidhi application

1. Keep the dated receipt issued when the file was submitted at the Mission Director's office. It is the reference for every follow-up.
2. Ask whether the file has gone to the expert committee at Gauhati Medical College for medical examination, which is the stage most applications sit at.
3. For amounts above Rs 2,00,000, confirm whether the case has been placed before the State Level Committee, since only that committee can sanction between Rs 2,00,000 and Rs 3,00,000.
4. Once sanction is issued, verify that the bank account details on file match your passbook, since disbursal is by direct transfer and a mismatch stops it.

Why Assam Arogya Nidhi applications get rejected

• Income certificate missing or issued by the wrong authority. It must come from the Revenue Circle Officer, not a gaon panchayat letter.
• Photocopied bills submitted instead of originals, which the office will not accept for reimbursement.
• No doctor's attestation on the patient's photograph.
• Applicant is a government employee or pensioner, which is an absolute exclusion regardless of how serious the illness is.
• Treatment at an unregistered facility, taking the episode outside the scheme.
• PMJAY documentation not enclosed, so the committee cannot establish what remains unpaid.
• Bank details illegible on the passbook photocopy, which delays disbursal even after sanction.

Most of these are curable by resubmission. An income certificate obtained from the wrong authority, in particular, should be replaced rather than argued about.

How Assam Arogya Nidhi relates to other Assam health schemes

Assam Arogya Nidhi is meant to sit on top of insurance-type cover, not alongside it. A family should first exhaust PMJAY or the state health assurance scheme, then apply to AAN for what remains unmet. The Health & Family Welfare Department also runs Sneha Sparsha for children below 12 years with serious ailments such as bone marrow transplant, liver transplant, cochlear implant and kidney transplant, and a separate programme of free operations for children with congenital heart disease. A household with a seriously ill child under 12 should check Sneha Sparsha first, because its ceilings are far higher, up to Rs 16,00,000 for a liver transplant in a BPL family — than the Rs 3,00,000 available under AAN.

Key dates and timelines

Assam Arogya Nidhi is open all year and the Health & Family Welfare Department has not announced a fixed last date for applications. Because the scheme is triggered by a specific episode of illness, the practical timing rule is to apply as soon as the discharge summary and bills are in hand, while the treating doctor is still available to attest the patient's photograph and while the hospital can still reissue any missing receipt.

Grievance redressal and contact

• Office of the Mission Director, National Health Mission, Assam: Saikia Commercial Complex, Christian Basti, Guwahati 781005
• Health & Family Welfare Department, Assam: hfw.assam.gov.in
• National Health Mission, Assam, nhm.assam.gov.in, where the application form and scheme page are hosted

There is no fee to apply for Assam Arogya Nidhi. No agent, hospital tout or middleman is authorised to charge a family for filing the application or for getting a sanction released, and any such demand should be reported in writing to the Mission Director, NHM Assam.