India is reshaping its healthcare paradigm

Significance

This includes spending on programmes relating to sanitation, nutrition and provision of safe drinking water -- outlay that is separate from core health sector expenditure. The government’s 2020/21 Economic Survey, presented before the budget’s unveiling, recommends increasing public spending on health services to 2.5-3.0% of GDP from roughly 1.0%.

Impacts

• Poor wages and limited insurance provisions will make it harder to expand the healthcare workforce.
• New public health laboratories are unlikely to match the performance of private ones without greater quality control.
• Failure to invest more in the enhancement of family welfare could impede long-term economic growth and development.