Jaipur: Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda met Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma at the Chief Minister's residence on Sunday, officials reported, in a gathering that included senior BJP leaders and state ministers. The visit coincided with a high-level meeting chaired by Nadda to review the scope for expanding Project SARATHI, a patient-centric support programme trialled at PGIMER, Chandigarh.
Senior leaders attend Jaipur meeting
The meeting at the Chief Minister’s residence was attended by Deputy Chief Ministers Diya Kumari and Dr Premchand Bairwa, State Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani, and BJP state office-bearers, according to official accounts. Party national and state-level representatives including MPs Ghanshyam Tiwari and Manju Sharma were also present.
“Today, at the Chief Minister's residence, a warm welcome was extended to the Honorable Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Shri @JPNadda ji,” the Chief Minister said in a statement.
State BJP President Madan Rathore and other senior organisation functionaries joined the leaders. The gathering underlined coordination between the state and the Union health ministry on patient services and hospital management initiatives.
Project SARATHI review and proposed expansion
Earlier on August 1, Union Health Minister Nadda chaired a separate high-level meeting to examine the feasibility of rolling out Project SARATHI across central and other government hospitals. The review considered the model deployed at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, and discussed replicability at other medical institutions.
Project SARATHI is described in official briefings as an initiative that strengthens patient support by engaging structured volunteer services to guide and assist patients and their attendants through the hospital journey. The programme emphasises non-clinical but critical aspects of patient care: wayfinding, counselling, coordination and compassionate assistance.
- Review of Project SARATHI’s implementation at PGIMER, Chandigarh.
- Discussion on replication across Central Government hospitals and other healthcare institutions.
- Emphasis on patient convenience, timely guidance and compassionate support beyond clinical care.
In the meeting Nadda underlined that patient-centric healthcare must extend beyond medical treatment to include timely guidance and compassionate support for patients and their attendants, officials said. He noted that structured volunteer engagement under SARATHI has demonstrated improvements in patient convenience where piloted.
Political and administrative implications in Rajasthan
The Union minister’s visit to Jaipur and his interactions with state leaders come against a backdrop of health-service reforms and increased focus on patient experience in government hospitals. If Project SARATHI’s model is adopted in Rajasthan’s public hospitals, it could change non-clinical care practices at tertiary and district-level institutions across the state.
State officials said coordination between the Union ministry and the Rajasthan health department will be required for any formal roll-out, including assessments of training needs for volunteers, manpower planning, and mechanisms to monitor patient feedback and outcomes.
| Event | Key participants |
|---|---|
| Meeting at CM residence, Jaipur | JP Nadda; Bhajanlal Sharma; Diya Kumari; Dr Premchand Bairwa; Gajendra Singh Khimsar; Vasudev Devnani; Madan Rathore; MPs Ghanshyam Tiwari, Manju Sharma |
| SARATHI review meeting | Union Health Ministry officials; representatives reviewing PGIMER implementation |
Officials described the interactions as both political and administrative: a courtesy call to the Chief Minister combined with a policy-level discussion on expanding a patient-support programme that has drawn attention at the central level.
What next for Rajasthan hospitals
State health department authorities will need to assess pockets of capacity across tertiary care centres and district hospitals before a formal decision on adoption. Key practical steps likely to follow would include pilot projects in selected hospitals, volunteer training modules, standard operating procedures for non-clinical patient assistance, and monitoring frameworks to measure patient satisfaction and operational impact.
The Union ministry’s review of PGIMER’s SARATHI implementation will be a reference point for any replication. Rajasthan’s policy-makers and hospital administrators will now consider whether the model can be tailored to the state’s health infrastructure, patient volumes and resource constraints.
As Jaipur plays host to this convergence of national and state health leadership, the focus will be on translating discussion into actionable pilots that improve patient experience in public hospitals across Rajasthan.
Reporting from Jaipur.
