‘Half of what’s required’: Why experts are calling Maharashtra Budget 2026 a blow to public healthcare

The Maharashtra government should have allocated resources at 1.5 per cent of GSDP for the coming year, but the allocation for 2026-27 is not even half of this promised level, they said. They pointed out that the allocation for public health in 2026-27 is Rs 22,072 crore, a significant drop of Rs 5,309 crore from the revised estimate for 2025-26 of Rs 27,381 crore.

“The public health budget for 2026-27 is somewhat higher than the previous year’s budget estimate of Rs. 17,365 crore. However, given inflation and the overall health needs of Maharashtra’s population, this increase is quite insufficient compared to the expected public health budget requirements for Maharashtra,” said Dr Shukla.

Similarly, the provision for the medical education department for 2026-27 is Rs 9,978 crore, Rs 903 crore less than the revised budget for 2025-26, Rs 10,881 crore.

“This Medical education budget for 2026-27 is somewhat higher than the previous year’s budget estimate of Rs 9,057 crore, but again the increase is largely limited to keeping pace with inflation, and does not match the large and growing requirements of the population,” Dr Shukla said.

Privatisation prioritised, claim experts

The health experts pointed out a stark contradiction in the government’s flagship Mahatma Jotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY). While the state aims to double the treatments offered, the budget for this insurance scheme, which largely benefits private hospitals, has been cut to Rs 1,556 crore, nearly half of last year’s revised estimate of Rs 3,025 crore.

They claimed there is no correlation between the original budget and actual spending. Last year, the supplementary budget for this programme was 350 per cent of the basic budget (Rs 650 crore), indicating poor resource planning, they said.

The activists also said the funding for the 108 Ambulance service has been cut by 33 per cent, falling from Rs 454 crore to Rs 300 crore. Incentives for Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) (volunteers and facilitators) saw a massive reduction, dropping from Rs 965 crore to just Rs 430 crore.

‘Procurement needs ignored’

Activists expressed concerns about the lack of plans to expand the Maharashtra Medical Goods Procurement Authority (MMGPA) ‘s capacity. “The establishment budget for MMGPA in the current year is just Rs. 4.5 crore, which is the same as last year, and is insufficient to support the required large team of technical officials who should be involved in procuring medicines for public health facilities across the state,” said Dr Shukla.

“Maharashtra Budget 2026-27 reflects continued, crippling neglect of public health needs of people of the state since allocations are barely half of the required 8 per cent of the total state budget as per the National Health Policy. Instead of strengthening public health infrastructure, the state continues to over-rely on insurance-based schemes benefiting private hospitals. Overall, the 2026-27 state health budget will not fulfil the basic needs of the people of Maharashtra,” Dr Shukla added.