The Interim Budget 2024–25, with an allocation of ₹ 90,171 crore for health, aims to improve access to healthcare services and infrastructure in India. The government's announcement to establish more medical colleges by utilising existing hospital infrastructure will address manpower shortages while also increasing access to healthcare education.
However, the implementation of these recommendations will be critical here and the financial and logistics issues which some of the private sector hospitals may face, needs to be looked into.
More colleges will require more teachers, which needs to be managed and also set-up robust processes to ensure education quality. We look forward to working with the committee to form recommendations and guidelines for the implementation of this plan.
The budget also has not addressed the issue of nursing shortage and migration of nurses from India. We await action on our demands on tax incentives for skill enhancement initiatives and DNB programs undertaken by private hospitals. Encouraging preventive cervical cancer vaccination for young girls aged 9 to 14 is a positive step toward reducing cases of the third most common cancer in India. This move will also help to renew the focus on preventive healthcare in India, but its success will be dependent on effective implementation.
The announcement of extending health coverage under the Ayushman Bharat scheme to all ASHA and Anganwadi have been better if more families were covered under the scheme to achieve universal health coverage.
Bringing maternal and child healthcare schemes under one umbrella and upgrading anganwadi centers will result in efficient resource allocation and improve outcomes in maternal and child healthcare.
Allocating a substantial corpus, accompanied by a 50-year interest-free loan for private sector research and development, positions India as a global healthcare innovation leader. Offering attractive interest rates incentivises the private sector to contribute meaningfully.
We look forward to the budget's key announcements being implemented, as well as an increase in health expenditure as a percentage of GDP. It would have been desirable if the government had implemented our long standing demand of either zero-rating GST for the health care sector with input tax credit or brought the healthcare sector under 5% GST with input tax credit to help create an attractive environment for domestic production of medical equipment, devices, and consumables.
Also, to ensure support to the Charitable Trust hospitals, to continue serving quality healthcare for all, the inconsistencies in tax exemption scheme should be resolved, and the approval-based category of exemption under Section 10(23C) be merged with the tax regime under Sections 11 to 13.3.
Synergy between government initiatives and operational objectives is paramount to fortify and enhance the Indian healthcare ecosystem, portraying a resilient and healthier India.”
—The author, Gautam Khanna, is CEO, P.D. Hinduja Hospitals, and President, Association of Hospitals, Mumbai. The views expressed are personal.
(Edited by : C H Unnikrishnan)
First Published: Feb 1, 2024 6:03 PM IST
