DESCRIBING ‘HEALTH AND WELLBEING’ as the first of six pillars on which the Union budget proposals rest, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an outlay of Rs 2,23,846 crore for 2021-22. “A 137 per cent jump” on the face of it, it seemed the government had responded to the all-too-obvious gaps in the country’s public healthcare set-up, which had been thoroughly exposed in the pandemic year. But it soon came to light that Sitharaman had indulged in a bit of ‘magic maths’. To the health ministry’s allocation of Rs 71,269 crore, she has tacked on the Rs 35,000 crore set aside for Covid-19 vaccination, apart from Finance Commission grants of Rs 36,022 crore and Rs 13,192 crore, respectively, for water and sanitation and health (see accompanying graphic: Health & Wellbeing Outlay). She also announced a new Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana, with a budget outlay of Rs 64,180 crore—to be spent over the next six years at an average of Rs 10,700 crore a year—to beef up the public health infrastructure. So, Sitharaman has combined several existing expense heads related to healthcare, not all managed by the health ministry and hitherto not accounted for as a part of the health budget.
This story is from the February 15, 2021 edition of India Today.
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This story is from the February 15, 2021 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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