Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a total spend of around Rs 2 lakh crore on healthcare with Rs 35,000 crore on Covid-19 vaccine development and inoculation in the union budget 2021. She said, India has two coronavirus vaccines that are not only safeguarding Indian citizens but those of 100 or more countries.
Sitharaman announced Rs 27 lakh crore COVID support measures, which amounts to almost 13 per cent of country’s GDP, and lauded the success of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative. “We have announced 35,000 crore rupees for COVID vaccine, and, for the health sector, we have a budget outlay of 2,23,846 crore, which up 137 per cent compared to 94,452 crore in previous years.”
The fillip to healthcare sector has brought relief to stake holders. They had urged the government to increase spend in the 2021 budget.
The PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana will be launched with a total outlay of Rs 64,180 crore over a period of next 6 years. The Finance minister said that the scheme will focus on developing capacities of healthcare systems. The focus would be on detection and cure of new and emerging diseases. The scheme would reach out to over 17,000 rural and 11,000 urban wellness centres.
It may be noted that this year, the budget is presented in a paperless format and would be available to public online.
Discussion about this post