Budget 2019: Rs 61,000 Crore Allocated For Health Sector; Modicare Gets Rs 6,400 Crore
The health outlay for the upcoming financial year is the highest in the last two financial years.
Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal announced a Rs 61,398 crore budgetary allocation for the health sector for the 2019-20 fiscal, with Rs 6,400 crore earmarked for the government’s ambitious Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana health insurance scheme.
The health outlay for the upcoming financial year is the highest in the last two financial years and a 16 percent increase over the last years allocation which was Rs 54,302.5 crore.
The AB-PMJAY scheme aims at providing a cover of Rs 5 lakh per family annually and is aimed at benefitting more than 10 crore poor families across the country.
Nearly Rs 250 crore has been allocated for setting up Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres under the National Urban Health Mission to provide comprehensive and quality primary care close to the community. Rs 1,350 crore has been earmarked for setting up Health and Wellness Centres under the National Rural Health Mission.
Nearly 1.5 lakh sub-centres and primary health centres will be transformed as health and wellness centres by 2022 under the programme. These centres will be equipped to provide treatment for diseases such as blood pressure, diabetes, cancer and old age-related illness.
The allocation for the National Health Mission for 2019-20 was raised to Rs 31,745 crore from the last budget's allocation of Rs 30,683.05 crore. The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna which features under the NHM saw an allocation of Rs 156 crore, a decline of Rs 144 crore.
The government allocated Rs 2,500 crore to its National AIDS and STD Control Programme, an increase of Rs 575 crore from last budget's allocation of Rs 1,925 crore. The budgetary allocation for the AIIMS has been increased to Rs 3,599.65 crore from Rs 3,298 crore in the 2018-2019 fiscal.
The National Programme for Health Care for the Elderly saw an increase in allocation from Rs 80 crore to Rs 105 crore while the National Mental Health Programme saw an hike from Rs 5.50 crore to Rs 40 crore.
The budgetary allocation for the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardio-vascular Disease and Stroke was increased to Rs 175 crore from Rs 100.50 crore. Allocation to the Tobacco Control Programme and Drug De-addiction Programme was Rs 65 crores.
The government, in the interim budget, has allocated Rs 64 crore for upgrading and strengthening nursing services, Rs 5 crore for upgrading pharmacy schools and colleges, Rs 800 crore for upgrading district hospitals and state government medical colleges.
It allocated Rs 1,361 crore for strengthening government medical colleges and central government health institutions, Rs 2,000 crore for establishing new medical colleges and Rs 20 crore for setting up State Institutions of Paramedical Sciences in the states and for setting up colleges of para-medical education.