New Delhi: The government will spend ₹64,180 crore over the next six years to improve healthcare services available across primary to tertiary care facilities, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her budget speech on Monday.
Announcement
The new centrally sponsored scheme, PM Atmanirbhar Swasthya Yojana will also strengthen existing national institutions and create new institutions catered to detection and cure of new and emerging diseases, Sitharaman said. This scheme is in addition to the existing National Health Mission.
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The minister said the scheme will support over 17,000 rural and over 7,000 urban health and wellness centres. Also, health labs will be set up in all districts and critical care blocks will be created in many public hospitals, the minister explained.
Implication
The move seeks to address gaps in healthcare facilities in a country of 1.4 billion people, where overcrowded public hospitals and high cost of care at private hospitals mean access to affordable healthcare is sub-optimal. In many cases, serious ailments push people into indebtedness in addition to ability to earn income, a serious worry for the government.
Context
The new scheme comes at a time when many experts and policy makers including the NK Singh-chaired Fifteenth Finance Commission (FFC) have demanded a sharp increase in the government’s public health spending.
The government is dutybound to address the issue of health deficiency at the level of municipal corporations, village panchayats and primary health centres. Private sector participation can be at other levels of specialty where they are better placed given their innovative skills, Singh had said in November 2020.
“The Investment on health infrastructure on this budget has increased substantially. As institutions absorb more (funds), we shall commit more,” Sitharaman said.
