Jan Swasthya Abhiyan demands doubling of Union health budget

The JSA demands include that the Union government allocations towards health in the 2026-27 budget should be doubled from the current 0.3% of GDP to meet in two years the goal of 1% of the GDP (roughly around 5% of Union Budget) set for 2025 by the National Health Policy–2017.

“Overall public spending on health should be further increased to 3.5% of GDP by 2030,” JSA experts said. The demand also includes allocation to NHM should be doubled, to support strengthening and expansion of health services apart from the improvement of Health and Wellness Centres, ensuring justice to health staff including ASHAs and contractual workers.

At least two-third of the Union Health Budget should be transferred to states, given that the states bear two-third of total burden of public health expenditure, the letter stated, adding that collection of health cess amount should be used to complement resources devoted to health, rather than substituting the main budgetary allocations.

Ravi Duggal, sociologist, health researcher and activist also explained that the declining share of Union health resources transferred to states is extremely alarming. “Union transfers to states for health have fallen from 75.9% in 2014–15 to just 43% in 2024–25 (budget estimates), undermining basic services. This trend reflects hyper-centralisation of finances even though health services largely fall within the states’ domain. It is important to recognise that during and after Covid, states have sustained higher spending levels despite constraints. This commitment must be supported, not undermined,” he said.

Among other demands include phasing out PMJAY and giving primacy to strengthening and expanding publicly provided healthcare. Richa Chintan, co-convener, JSA national secretariat said the harshest cuts are hitting programmes that strengthen the public system—National Health Mission (NHM), Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), nutrition, and research—despite their value in hard times.

“NHM funds have declined in real terms by 5.5% on average. Even within limited allocations, the thrust continues towards private partnerships and insurance-based models such as PMJAY. This is happening despite extensive evidence that shows limits of insurance-led healthcare models in ensuring access and equity. We need to double NHM funds, shift away from privatisation, and revive Central pharma and vaccine PSUs,” Chintan said.