According to sources in the Health Department, all civil surgeons have been asked to prepare lists of centres that can be converted into AACs. In the third phase, the government plans to convert four dispensaries in each large district and two in every small district into AACs.
Moreover, some rural dispensaries will get grant for the first time in the past 17 years. It was in 2006 when most of the rural dispensaries under the Rural Development and Panchayats Department got grants for the upkeep of buildings. Some of the rural dispensaries are in very bad condition.
With an aim to provide better health facilities to the rural Population, the government transferred 1,186 rural dispensaries from the Health Department to the Rural Development and Panchayats (RDP) Department in 2006. But now a majority of these have been given back to the Health Department and around 550 are with the RDP Department.