Chandigarh, Oct. 7 -- Even though the tussle between the Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party-run Punjab government over the rebranding of health and wellness clinics (HWCs) is over, the Union government has decided not to release Rs.450 crore National Health Mission (NHM) funds for the year 2023-24.

The row started when the AAP government in Punjab rebranded HWCs in the state as Aam Aadmi Clinics (AACs) in 2023. The Centre, in turn, froze the NHM funds. The Centre stopped making payments to the state from December 2023 and started repaying the NHM funds only in November 2024 when the state government decided to remove its branding from the clinics.

According to the Centre, Punjab did not adhere to the branding guidelines for Ayushman Bharat-...