About NHA
National Health Authority (NHA) is the apex body responsible for implementing India’s flagship public health insurance/assurance scheme called “Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana” & has been entrusted with the role of designing strategy, building technological infrastructure and implementation of “National Digital Health Mission” to create a National Digital Health Eco-system.
National Health Authority is the successor of the National Health Agency, which was functioning as a registered society since 23rd May, 2018. Pursuant to Cabinet decision for full functional autonomy, National Health Agency was reconstituted as the National Health Authority on 2nd January 2019, under Gazette Notification Registered No. DL –(N) 04/0007/2003-18.
NHA has been set-up to implement PM-JAY, as it is popularly known, at the national level. An attached office of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with full functional autonomy, NHA is governed by a Governing Board chaired by the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare. It is headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), an officer of the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, who manages its affairs. The CEO is the Ex-Office Member Secretary of the Governing Board.
To implement the scheme at the State level, State Health Agencies (SHAs) in the form of a society/trust have been set up by respective States. SHAs have full operational autonomy over the implementation of the scheme in the State including extending the coverage to non SECC beneficiaries.
NHA is leading the implementation for national Digital Health Mission NDHM in coordination with different ministries/departments of the Government of India, State Governments, and private sector/civil society organizations.
Chief Executive Officer
A full time Chief Executive Officer (CEO), in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, is appointed by Central Government at NHA. The CEO is the Ex-Officio Member Secretary to the Governing Board and has complete operational control over the NHA for implementation of PM-JAY. However, for all policy matters, the CEO reports to the Governing Board and works under their guidance. He exercises all administrative powers within the Authority and over its staff, delegated to him by the Governing Board. The CEO also exercises the financial power of a Secretary to the Government of India as envisaged under GFR and Financial Rules & regulations of Government of India.
Chief Executive Officer's Profile
Chief Executive Officer, National Health Authority, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Govt. of India)
Former Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
He is an IAS officer of 1978 batch, with a distinguished career in the Government of India and State Governments, leading reforms and leveraging IT to simplify administrative processes. In the process, he has contributed to shaping India's Policies in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). He combines planning and execution skills to ensure that policies work at the ground.
Has been involved in policies related to financing of big infrastructure projects in Railways, Ports, Airports and Highways.
Dr. Sharma is presently serving as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Authority responsible for managing the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) and the National Digital Health Mission. Also, he serves as the Chairperson of the Empowered Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19.
Previously, Dr Sharma headed the TRAI from August 2015 to September 2020, in which period he brought consumer focus to reaching the telecom and broadcasting services to all pockets of the country. And where the regulatory action may have been insufficient, he advocated policy changes to the government.
He provided thought leadership through initiatives, for example, in adopting net neutrality principles in India, use of crowdsourced data to measure service quality, and leveraging blockchain to achieve regulatory outcomes.
He pushed for development of indigenous technologies, keeping the country's needs in mind, e.g. to establish a grid of Wi-Fi hotspots or to make interoperable set-top boxes for television broadcast.
He represented India at various international fora and contributed to the policy space in communication technologies and broadcasting. Before joining the TRAI, Dr Sharma worked as Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, where he spearheaded the Digital India program to develop India into a digitally empowered society and a knowledge economy.
He brought in policies related to open source, open standards, and open APIs in all government projects and shaped eGovernance space by converting silo applications in various sectors to modern, multi-tenanted enterprise systems.
Dr. Sharma supported the development and adoption of several digital products in governance and citizen services, such as eKYC, Digital Locker, eSign, Online Reservation System (ORS) in the hospitals, Digital Attendance, Jeevan Pramaan (a system for issuing Digital Life Certificate for the pensioners) and the Digital Consent Artefact. Importantly, he crafted policies for digital payments that led to the creation of the phenomenally successful UPI payment system in India.
Before joining the Government of India as Secretary, Dr Sharma worked for one year in 2013-14 as Chief Secretary in the Government of Bihar and Jharkhand, where he provided leadership to the entire administrative system of the State. He dealt with law and order, administration of the criminal justice system, revenue system and all other aspects of the work, for which a State Government is responsible under the Constitution. While there, he modernized governance and public service delivery systems using technology in several areas, such as land and property registration systems, municipal governance, Public Distribution System (PDS) and taxation systems.
Dr. Sharma is best known for the role he played as Director General & Mission Director of the Unique Identification Authority of India in the years 2009 – 2013.
Working closely with Mr Nandan Nilekani in overall design and implementation of Aadhaar, he brought to fruition Government of India’s ambitious project to provide a unique identity to all its residents. Today it is the world’s largest identity system, capable of biometrically authenticating every individual resident in the country.
He conceptualized (and later implemented) several services that leveraged the authentication infrastructure for better governance and for bringing in cost-effectiveness in both government and private enterprise.
In his other assignments, he has worked as District Magistrate in several districts in Bihar, Director of Treasuries, Secretary in different departments in the State and as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India.
In September 2020 Rupa Publications brought out his book The Making of Aadhaar: World's Largest Identity Platform (ISBN-13: 978-9390356126), which has been very well received.
Dr Sharma holds a PhD from Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi; Master’s in Computer Sciences from the University of California, USA; and Master’s in Mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
Powers and functions of the CEO :- The day-to-day administration of the Authority. For this purpose, he shall report to the Chairperson of the Governing Board,
- Implementing the work programmes and decisions adopted by the Authority,
- Drawing up of proposal for the Governing Board’s decisions and work programmes,
- The preparation of the statement of the revenue and expenditure and the execution of the budget of the authority,
- Performing such other functions, or exercising such other powers, as may be specified by regulations,
- Ensure compliance to rules, procedure, regulations related to selection and recruitment of the staff for the Authority, as laid by the Governing Board; and
- Any other activities as assigned by the Government of India from time to time.
| S. No | Name of the CEO | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dr .Indu Bhushan | 1st May 2018 | 31st Jan 2021 |
| 2 | Dr. R. S. Sharma | 1st Feb 2021 | -- |
Former-Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Indu Bhushan, former-CEO of the National Health Authority (NHA), Government of India, mandated with the implementation of Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) and the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM).
Dr. Bhushan is an ex-Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Indian Civil Services, 1983 Rajasthan cadre. He holds a Doctorate in Health Economics and a Master of Health Sciences from the Johns Hopkins University, USA. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University (IIT BHU) and IIT Delhi where he completed his B. Tech and Post-Graduate Diploma, respectively. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Dr. Bhushan is a bureaucrat-turned-economist with a career spanning 35 years across a multitude of sectors. He served for nine years in the IAS prior to leaving government service. Thereafter, he worked as Senior Economist with the World Bank Group prior to moving to ADB. Until his appointment as CEO, AB - PMJAY, he served as Director General, East Asia Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He has held multiple positions within ADB including Director General, Strategy and Policy Department and led ADB’s engagement with the People's Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Mongolia, and Taiwan including management of $12.6 billion portfolio comprising of 113 projects. Dr. Bhushan administered and provided oversight to sectors like energy, environment, natural resources and agriculture, transport, public management, financial sector and regional cooperation, urban and social development. He also supervised ADB’s resident missions in the People’s Republic of China and Mongolia.
Dr. Bhushan lives in an empty nest in New Delhi, with his wife, Anjana, an ex-IAS officer, who works with the World Health Organisation (WHO). He has two daughters, Devika and Ambika, who are both medical doctors and live in the USA. He likes to play bridge and catch the latest movies and theatrical shows on the weekend.
Additional Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Praveen Gedam is the Additional Chief Executive Officer (Addl. CEO) of the National Health Authority (NHA), mandated with the implementation of Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) and recently, the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM)
As second-in-command at the NHA, he supervises the work of various verticals and coordinates with ministries, organizations, State Governments, and other stakeholders. He has been in charge of policy formulation, design, and implementation of flagship health care schemes of the Government of India. Ayushman Bharat: Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, which is the world’s largest government-sponsored health assurance scheme, and the National Digital Health Mission of India, which aims to revolutionize digital healthcare access for all.
A career bureaucrat, Dr. Gedam was also a qualified doctor before he joined the government service (IAS: 2002 Maharashtra). He has held several important positions in his career and was the Private Secretary to Union Cabinet Minister of Railways in the Government of India. He had earlier served the Government of Maharashtra in various capacities. He was Transport Commissioner of Maharashtra, where he spearheaded a massive computerization exercise. Dr. Gedam has also served as Municipal Commissioner and District Collector of numerous cities and districts.
At the cutting-edge field level, Dr. Gedam was responsible for critical government interventions concerning socio-economic development, including those in public health. He is known for the turnaround in Maternal and Child Health indicators in Latur, one of the most backward districts of the state, due to targeted interventions, systematic medical check-ups, and massive community mobilization exercises. In 2015, he was entrusted with organizing and managing the mega-event of Kumbhmela in Nashik which is one of the largest human congregations on earth.
Dy. Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Vipul Aggarwal is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Dy CEO) of the National Health Authority (NHA). He is the third highest officer in the organisational hierarchy and has been appointed by the Government of India to assist the CEO, NHA in managing the affairs of the organisation.
Dy. CEO’s Profile
Dr. Vipul Aggarwal is a serving Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of 2001 batch, Gujarat cadre. He is a medical doctor turned cop who is known to be a pragmatic and proactive officer with more than 19 years of work experience behind him. A meritorious student all his life, Dr. Aggarwal was the All India Topper in the Secondary School Examination (Class X). He graduated from the prestigious Maulana Azad Medical College with a gold medal in forensic medicine. At the Sardar Vallabh Bhai National Police Academy (SVPNPA) he was the batch topper and the recipient of the coveted Home Minister’s Revolver and PM’s Baton for “Best All Round Officer Trainee.”
A committed knowledge seeker, Dr. Aggarwal has several diplomas and degrees under his belt. To name a few, he has a Master’s Degree in Police Management from Osmania University, a Master’s Degree in English Literature, a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from IGNOU
As a visionary officer and change driver, Dr. Aggarwal is accustomed to overcoming numerous and seemingly impossible challenges. A dedicated officer with well-earned promotions at prominent government departments, he has contributed immensely to ensure effective policing throughout Gujarat, support community involvement in crime prevention and provide correctional services to the society. He was the Superintendent of Police of Porbandar, Banaskantha and Dahod districts. In his last assignment, he served as the Joint Commissioner of Police (Admin) of Ahmedabad city, a position with immense administrative responsibilities, human resource and finance management. Apart from this, he has also served in Gujarat state health department as MD, NRHM and MD, Gujarat Medical Services Corporation Limited.