Delhi govt sets aside Rs 9,769 cr for health sector
New Delhi: The AAP-led government's Rozgar Budget is set to focus on the expansion of health infrastructure, the state's Finance Minister Manish Sisodia announced while adding that the total allocation for the health sector stands at Rs 9,769 crore for the year 2022-23.
While presenting the Annual Budget on Saturday, Sisodia announced that Rs 1,900 crore will be allocated for the construction of four new hospitals and the redevelopment of 15 existing hospitals which will collectively bring in an additional 16,000 hospital beds in the city. The four new hospitals include a 2,716-bedded one at Siraspur and three 671-bed hospitals at Madipur, Hastsal and Jwalapuri.
The State government has allocated Rs 70 crore for setting up the cloud-based Hospital Information Management System and a QR code-based e-health card. The QR code-based e-health card will be available to all citizens which will store all health related information.
"This will help in identifying patients and getting basic information about their disease with geo-tagging. Apart from this, this system will also help in getting information of family trees i.e. family members. This will make it easier for all citizens to get treatment timely," Sisodia said.
The government will also provide a 24×7 toll-free helpline number for the cardholders, which can be used to book appointments in the government-run hospitals.
The latest allocation has seen a decline of 1.6 percent when compared to the previous year's allocation which was Rs 9,934 crore. Importantly it is the first time that the health sector's allocation has reduced since AAP formed its government. The 2020-21 budget had witnessed a jump of roughly 29 percent in the healthcare sector due to the pandemic as it included a Rs 50 crore allocation for the vaccination drive which has been reduced this year as the majority of adults in the population has been vaccinated.
From the total allocation for the health sector the government's Health department will use Rs 50 crore for its Delhi Arogya Kosh scheme that offers free diagnostics and procedures at private centres. Such services are
offered at private facilities when they are not available in the government hospitals or have long waiting periods as some cases may require urgent treatment.
The government has also allocated Rs 15 crore for the Aam Aadmi Yogshala. " Around 450 yoga teachers trained by DPSRU, Government of Delhi are teaching yoga daily to more than 15,000 people according to their time and convenience. For this, a separate provision of Rs 15 crore has been made in the Budget to continue this programme," Sisodia added.
