Thaindian News

New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS) India’s health budget has gone up by Rs.2,700 crore to Rs.22,300 crore (Rs.223 billion/$4.82 billion) with special focus on rural and public health.
Presenting the 2010-11 budget to parliament, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said: “I propose to increase the plan allocation for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare from Rs.19,534 crore to Rs.22,300 crore for 2010-11.”

Over Rs.139 billion have been earmarked for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-government’s flagship programme the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), launched in 2005, to improve availability and access to quality healthcare for people living in remote areas.

The main focus is on 18 states that have weak public health infrastructure - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Orissa, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

The amount was for carrying out various schemes under the NRHM and has gone up from Rs.120.96 crore.

Mukherjee also announced that an annual health survey would be carried out to prepare the district health profile of the rural populace.

“The findings of the survey should be of immense benefit to major public health initiatives, particularly the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), which has successfully addressed the gaps in the delivery of critical health services in rural areas,” he said.

Equal focus has also been given to public health with the government allocating money for the AIDS control and mental health programmes and the prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Of the total budget, about Rs.3,181 crore have been earmarked for various schemes to benefit the health of the people - up from Rs.1,928 in 2009-10.

While India’s AIDS control programmes saw an increased allotment of Rs.403 crore - up from Rs.888.15 crore to Rs.1,291 crore this fiscal - the National Mental Health Programme saw a rise of Rs.103 crore, up from Rs.50 crore - an increase of Rs.53 crore.

Also, the national programme for the prevention and control of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and stroke got Rs.90 crore - an increase of Rs.73 crore from the previous budget.

As the country faces a shortfall of trained doctors, nurses and paramedics, the government has earmarked Rs.323 crore for creating more trained human resource in the health sector.

According to a Planning Commission report, India faces a shortage of about 600,000 doctors, one million nurses, 200,000 dental surgeons and a large number of paramedical staff.

However, top hospitals and medical colleges like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi and the Post Graduate Institute (PGI) in Chandigarh have got substantially less money in the coming fiscal as against the current financial year.

As per the 2010-11 budget allocation, the AIIMS will get Rs.800 crore in 2010-11 as against Rs.886.5 crore in 2009-10, while the PGI Chandigarh has been allocated Rs.82 crore less in the new budget. In 2009-10, the medical college got an allocation of Rs.392 crore.