Healthcare budget: 157 new nursing colleges on the cards, drive to end sickle cell anaemia by 2047

Nursing unions and doctors also flagged the unavailability of infrastructure in existing nursing colleges.

The Finance Minister also announced a mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047. The programme will include awareness, counselling and universal screening of seven crore people aged up to 40 years in affected tribal areas.

The overall health outlay stands at 2.1 per cent of the GDP, inching towards the government’s aim of increasing healthcare spending to 2.5 per cent of the GDP by 2025.

The budget estimates, however, show a decline in allocation for capital expenditure in health, with lower allocation for key health infrastructure programmes.

The estimate for health capital expenditure has reduced by nearly Rs 332 crore (to Rs 5,300.34 crore) for FY24 from FY23. The allocation for one of the flagship schemes of the government — Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Infrastructure Mission — fell to Rs 645.8 crore from the previous estimate of Rs 978 crore.

The utilisation of the fund had been low, with the revised FY23 estimate standing at Rs 281.6 crore. The mission focuses on strengthening health and wellness centres, setting up critical care blocks and creating surveillance units.

There was a significant decline in allocation for Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna — from Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 3,365 crore.

With Covid-19 case numbers low for nearly a year, the allocation for health insurance for healthcare workers under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package fell from Rs 226 crore to Rs 0.01 crore.

This budget saw an increase in allocation for a flagship government programme, the National Digital Health

Mission.

With the mission to set up a cloud-based database of health records gaining ground — over 10 crore ABHA accounts have been created — the allocation to the programme increased to Rs 341 crore from the previous year’s Rs 200 crore.

Union Budget 2023: All you need to know

• ↗️ Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Union Budget 2023 has some big takeaways
• ↗️ First, what everyone has been looking forward to: changes in the new income tax regime. She has made the new tax regime more attractive. There are changes in the rebate limit and in tax slabs. What does this mean for the taxpayer?
• ↗️ FM Sitharaman proposed a 33% increase in capital investment outlay, raising it to Rs 10 lakh crore. This is the biggest in the past decade. What does it mean?
• ↗️ Some articles get cheaper and others get costlier due to changes in customs duty. Here is a list
• ↗️ The capital outlay for the railways has been increased to the highest ever – Rs 2.40 lakh crore. The government is trying to create more jobs
• ↗️ FM Sitharaman said the fiscal deficit will fall to 5.9% of the GDP. What does it mean for the stakeholders?
• ↗️ The FM called it the ‘first Budget of Amrit Kaal’. PM Narendra Modi said it will build a strong foundation for a developed India. What did opposition leaders say?