Deception in the Health Budget 2021-22

There were huge expectations from the Health Budget but it finally turned out to be a damp squib, says RAVI DUGGAL.

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Health and Family Welfare has got an allocation of Rs. 71269 crore for 2021-22 and if we include AYUSH and Health Research it adds up to Rs 76,902 crore and this is merely 2.21% of the Total Budget in contrast to 2.27% for Budget Estimates 2020-21 and 2.47% of 2020-21 Revised Estimates.

Clearly, no growth in healthcare spending is visible for the forthcoming fiscal year. The increase in revised estimates for 2020-21 are of course due to additional emergency allocations on account of Covid-19.

The Covid-19 Emergency Response allocation has only been made for 2020-21 and not for 2021-22 as under:

• National Centre for Disease Control: Rs. 95 crores
• Supplies for Covid-19 response:  Rs. 4724 crores
• Covid-19 expenses under NRHM:  Rs 6935 crores
• Covid vaccines for health and frontline workers: Rs 360 crores
• Covid support for Research: Rs 2100 crores

The above adds up allocations of Rs. 14,217 crore, but what will actually be spent would be known only next year.

Table 1 presents an overview of the budget as presented in the latest budget document and what it reveals is that while the budget estimate of 2020-21 was hiked by 23% in response to covid-19 in the 2021-22 allocation, we see a decline of 10.85% from the 2020-21 revised estimates. Covid-19 has certainly not gone away and hence this decline of allocation is indeed surprising in the main health budget.

However, there are two additional amounts for healthcare allocated in the 2021-22 budget under the Finance Ministry as special grants and that is Rs.35,000 crores earmarked for covid vaccines when needed and Rs. 13,192 crores as special grants for health by the 15^th Finance Commission. But like the covid emergency response allocations in 2020-21 these are onetime special allocations and not an integral part of the health budget.