'Government Of Maharashtra Has Always Been Encouraging The PPP Model In Healthcare'

In a wide-ranging interview, Dr Vijay Satbir Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Government of Maharashtra, talks about various health initiatives of the state like the upcoming new Vision 2030 document on health, a new nutrition policy and a partnership with the software giant Microsoft to boost IT in the state in an exclusive interaction with Prathiba Raju

- Prathiba Raju

How do you plan to achieve the dream of having an Arogya Maharashtra?

Our vision of Arogya Maharashtra is to provide affordable, accessible and quality healthcare to the people of the state, with a special focus on women and children, along with the people living in tribal areas. We are working to get the appropriate policies and suitable amendments in place.

With rising cost of healthcare, do you think the amount allotted can cover the expenditure of all health schemes? Besides, what are the reasons for the reduction in health budgets?

Well, this is a problem most of the states are facing. The revenues allotted to the state governments keep on changing and there are many reasons for it. For example, this year in Maharashtra, we had registered a shortfall in our revenue, particularly related to excise, property transactions were below the expectations. Whenever an income of the state fluctuates, it leaves an impact on the allocation of funds to various sectors like health and education. At times, the state also has some unexpected expenditures which has its impact on the money made available for each sector. For the 2017-18 financial year, the budget allocated for public health is Rs 8195. 18 crores, including an expenditure of Rs 4051.61 crores for the schemes and rest is the committed expenditure, which comprises expenses like salary and other commitments.

What was the reason for the nutrition schemes budget being lowered than what was allotted in the last budget?