Rs 61,398 Crore For Health Sector In Budget, Highest In Two Years
Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday announced Rs 61,398 crore budgetary allocation for the health sector for the 2019-2020 fiscal, with Rs 6,400 crore earmarked for the centre's ambitious "Ayushman Bharat" scheme.
The health outlay for the upcoming financial year is the highest in the last two financial years and a 16 per cent increase over the 2018-2019 allocation which was Rs 54,302.50 crore.
Over 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 1350 crore has been set aside for the Health and Wellness Centres under the National Rural Health Mission.
Under the programme, nearly 1.5 lakh sub-centres and primary health centres will be transformed as health and wellness centres by 2022. These centres will be equipped to provide treatment for diabetes, cancer and other illnesses.
The allocation for the National Health Mission (NHM) 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 (RSBY) 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 3599 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 Deaddiction Programme was Rs 65 crores, a decline by Rs 2 crore.
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