Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh on Sunday, 31 May 2026, shared a milestone update on the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), highlighting that the scheme has crossed 90 crore Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) registrations, with women accounting for nearly 50 per cent of all enrolments.

Context

The minister's post, shared via the NaMo App, stated: 'Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission ke tahat 90 crore ABHA registration ka aankda paar, mahilaon ki hissedari kareeb 50%' — translating to: 'Under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, the figure of 90 crore ABHA registrations has been crossed, with women's share at nearly 50 per cent.' The update underscores the scale at which India's national digital health infrastructure is expanding, with gender-inclusive enrolment emerging as a headline metric.

Policy Backdrop

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission was formally launched in September 2021 to build a unified national digital health ecosystem. At its core is the ABHA — a unique 14-digit health identifier linked to Aadhaar — which allows citizens to store, access, and share electronic medical records across healthcare providers. The mission is implemented by the National Health Authority (NHA), the autonomous body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that also oversees the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), launched in 2018 to provide health cover to low-income families.

ABDM builds on the National Digital Health Blueprint of 2019 and sits within the broader Digital India programme that has progressively digitised welfare delivery since 2015. Aadhaar-linked health records have been a central pillar of this architecture, enabling interoperability between public and private health systems.

Stakeholders and Impact

The near-equal gender split in ABHA registrations is significant. Successive governments have prioritised gender-disaggregated data in flagship schemes to track inclusion, and a ~50 per cent women's share across 90 crore registrations suggests broad outreach beyond urban, male-dominated early adopters. For Indian citizens, particularly those in rural and semi-urban areas, the ABHA ID is intended to reduce paperwork, prevent duplication of medical tests, and enable continuity of care across facilities. Healthcare providers — hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic labs — stand to benefit from standardised, portable patient records once ABDM integration deepens.

The post was shared by Giriraj Singh, a senior BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP from Begusarai, Bihar, who holds the Union Textiles portfolio. While health scheme communications typically originate from the Health Ministry, cabinet ministers across portfolios routinely amplify government milestones via party and government digital platforms.

What's Next

The next indicators to watch are quarterly progress reports on ABDM integration with state health portals and private hospitals, which will determine whether the registration numbers translate into active usage of digital health records. Parliamentary committee reviews of digital health data governance and privacy safeguards are also expected to gain attention as the registered user base approaches the scale of India's total population. Deeper integration with PMJAY and state insurance schemes could further accelerate adoption among the scheme's primary target group — economically vulnerable households.