BJP leader Smriti Irani, serving as Advisor to the Women's Collective Forum, addressed public health leaders at the EPHP Conference 2026 hosted by IIM Bangalore on Monday, June 8, 2026, and launched two research reports under the Forum's Advancing Public Health Outcomes initiative alongside Dr. Sanghamitra Pati, Additional Director General, ICMR.

What Was Launched

The first report, 'Technology for Healthcare: India's Mantra for Universal Health Coverage', was prepared by the National Disease Modelling Consortium in collaboration with IIT Bombay. It examines how technology and data-driven disease modelling can be leveraged to advance Universal Health Coverage across India.

The second report, 'Healthcare at Your Doorstep: The Promise of Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs', was prepared by IIM Bangalore in collaboration with IIM Udaipur, IIM Shillong, and IIM Ranchi. It focuses on the role of Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs — the primary healthcare centres established under the Ayushman Bharat programme — in delivering last-mile health services.

Context

The Ayushman Bharat programme was launched in 2018 with a dual mandate: expand financial health protection and convert sub-centres and primary health centres into Health and Wellness Centres, later rebranded as Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs. These facilities are designed to deliver comprehensive primary care, including maternal health, non-communicable disease screening, and telemedicine services.

The National Health Policy of 2017 had earlier set the framework for universal health coverage, while the National Digital Health Mission, launched in 2020, pushed for technology integration and unified health data infrastructure. The two reports launched at IIM Bangalore sit squarely within this evolving policy continuum.

Policy Backdrop

Irani, speaking at the conference, stated: 'The true value of research lies in its ability to drive meaningful change.' She noted that the reports provide insights into how 'technology, disease modelling and data-driven decision-making can complement strong primary healthcare institutions such as Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs in advancing Universal Health Coverage in India.'

Her remarks underscored a recurring theme in India's health governance: bridging the gap between evidence and implementation, particularly at the last mile. India's institutional capacity — spanning premier research bodies like ICMR and technical institutions like IIT Bombay — has increasingly been channelled into producing actionable health policy research.

Stakeholders and Impact

The reports are directed at state health departments, district health planners, and policymakers responsible for operationalising National Health Mission programme implementation plans. Primary care patients — particularly in rural and peri-urban areas — stand to benefit if the modelling outputs and doorstep-care frameworks are adopted at scale.

The involvement of four IIMs and IIT Bombay in producing the reports signals an effort to ground health policy recommendations in rigorous academic and quantitative analysis, rather than administrative prescription alone.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to whether state governments and central health planners incorporate the findings into annual NHM Programme Implementation Plans and health budget allocations. Irani's call to 'move from evidence to action' places the onus on administrative machinery to translate the research into on-ground improvements in healthcare delivery — with equity and dignity as the stated benchmarks.