The union budget, for the year 2010-11, was presented yesterday by the finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee.
As usual, it elicited mixed response -- there were those who endorsed the budget and there were the others who thought that a lot more could be done.
The present budget has its highs and lows, but what did it offer the health sector?
HighlightsThis time the focus of the budget is on rural healthcare, with the
fund allocations rising to a whopping 22,300 crores (Rs 223 billion/$4.82 billion) from 19,534 crores during the previous fiscal year. This escalation is in keeping with the evolving needs of the growing healthcare industry of the country.
The finance minister also said that there are plans to carry out a national
annual survey to analyze the health profiles of the populace in the rural districts.
"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," the FM said.
It may be noted that the NRHM, which has been regularly funded since 2005, was launched during the same year to tackle health inequalities in rural areas, especially in the 18 states with particularly poor health-related infrastructure.
The
gist of the budget concerning the health sector are the following-
• Allocation of overall funds increased by Rs 2,770 crore;
• Annual surveys to prepare the health profile in rural districts
• Assess expenditure carried out under National Rural Health Mission;
• Uniform / concessional basic duty of 5% for all medical appliances;
•
Convergence of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) with wider health insurance coverage through Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (Health insurance for BPL families)
• Countervailing duty of 4% on all medical equipments, with full exemption from special additional duty
