The regular budget, presented in the Parliament by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday, failed to extend anything concrete to cheer the healthcare industry which was expecting some measures to boost the infrastructure development in the private sector.
However, upholding the commitment of the Congress-led government towards the welfare programmes in the health sector, the minister has increased the allocation for the National Rural Health Mission. "For the NRHM, an increase of Rs 2057 crore over and above Rs 12,070 crore provided in the interim Budget is proposed, as this is an essential instrument for achieving our goal of health for all," he said in his budget speech. The revised allocation for the NRHM in the previous year was Rs 10799.52 crore.
Besides, the Government proposes to bring all BPL families under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY). "Rs 350 crore, marking a 40 per cent increase over the previous allocation is being provided in the 2009-10 BE for this. The RSBY was operationalised last year and the initial response was very good, with more than 46 lakh BPL families in eighteen States and UTs having been issued biometric smart cards," he added. This scheme empowers poor families by giving them freedom of choice for using health care services from an extensive list of hospitals including private hospitals.