The Lok Sabha on Wednesday approved the Appropriation Bill, which allowed the central government to draw funds from the Consolidated Fund of India for its operational requirements and implementation of various programs.
The bill was passed through the guillotine by Speaker Om Birla, a legislative mechanism to approve the fast-tracking of passage of outstanding demands for grants without discussion. In the last few days, the Lok Sabha discussed the Demands for Grants of the Ministries of Railways, Education and Health.
On Wednesday, 26 members of the House participated in a debate on the demand for grants under the Ministry of Health.
In his response to the debate, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan listed the steps taken by the Narendra Modi-led government to improve healthcare infrastructure, emphasizing initiatives to contain the epidemic.
Dr. Vardhan said that while responding to the concerns raised by many members that the proposed allocations for various other departments like water, sanitation, nutrition, AYUSH and health research were also canceled, Dr. Vardhan said that the Center has adopted a holistic approach to health and wellness. From day one itself.
“Health is a state of physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being of an individual and is not simply the absence of disease or debility,” he said, adding that it was the definition of the World Health Organization. He said that if the government ensured safe drinking water, hygiene and made arrangements for children’s nutrition, it would address health issues.
He said that under the broad parameters for health in 2020-21, parameter 94,452 crore was allocated and in this budget the amount has now increased to this 2.23 lakh crore. A provision of ₹ 35,000 crore was made for the ongoing vaccination campaign.
Dr. Vardhan said that out of 1.5 lakh health and welfare centers envisaged by the government, 66,000 have already been set up and around 35,000 of them have become operational during the epidemic.
Apart from budgetary resources in health sector, many other steps are being taken. Under the PM Atmanirbhar Swachh Bharat Yojana, during 64,180 crores was set aside for use during the next six years.
Several measures are being taken to further prepare the country to deal with the situation like COVID in future. Integrated public health laboratories, virology laboratories, critical care hospitals and urban / rural welfare centers will be built at the block level.
New public health units are being set up at 32 airports, 11 ports, and an integrated health information portal is being expanded for land crossings and effective tracing for point-of-entry surveillance. Nearly 70,000 crore rupees will be provided to local, rural and urban bodies to upgrade health services.
Dr. Vardhan said that the percentage increase in budget allocation was 95.99% by 2020-21 as compared to 2014-21. In terms of GDP share, health expenditure increased from 1.3% to 1.8%. The National Health Policy-2017 envisaged 2.5% by 2025.
During the epidemic, the Union Minister said, the country achieved self-sufficiency in the production of PPT, N-95 masks, diagnostic kits, ventilators and allied articles so that they were now being exported. Vaccines were being sent overseas but not at the cost of Indians. With a testing laboratory, the country now has 2,416 units in just one year.
In response to criticism about the slow pace of vaccination, Drs. Vardhan said that on the day India reached the figure of three million vaccinations, eight million vaccinations were done all over the world. India’s share was around 36%.
Dr. Vardhan said that after the presentation of the budget, the Prime Minister held long brainstorming meetings with all stakeholders in various health related fields and sought their suggestions for further improvement. On 1 April, all budget announcements will be implemented and the Prime Minister himself will oversee the development.
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