Piyush Goyal, Interim Finance Minister Presenting the Budget in the Lok Sabha

The government presented the Union Budget today at 11 am.

This year’s budget is an interim one and is expected to be followed by a full one in July 2019.

Piyush Goyal, the interim finance minister, presented the budget, as Arun Jaitley, finance minster is in the US for medical treatment.

Excerpts from the speech:

11:20 AM

“Past five years have seen massive scale up of healthcare. Earlier, a poor man used to be in dilemma whether to fulfil daily needs of the family or save the life of an ailing member. This situation has deeply pained our Hon’ble Prime Minister. We launched the world’s largest healthcare program, Ayushman Bharat, to provide medical treatment to nearly 50 crore people. Already close to 10 lakh patients have benefited for medical treatment which would have cost them Rs 3000 crore through free treatment made available under the scheme. Lakhs of poor and middle class people are also benefiting from reduction in the prices of essential medicines, cardiac stents and knee implants, and availability of medicines at affordable prices through Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendras.

There are 21 AIIMS operating or being established in the country presently. 14 of these 21 AIIIMS have been announced since 2014. I am happy to announce setting up of new the 22nd AIIMS in Haryana.”

(Our comments. The promise to set up four All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was partially met. While two such institutions have come up in Mangalapuri in Andhra Pradesh and Nagpur in Maharashtra, the other two — at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath’s bastion Gorakhpur and Kalyani in West Bengal — are yet to get off the ground. This despite the fact that the Cabinet had cleared the two projects at a cost of Rs 1011 crore and Rs 1754 crore respectively).

12: 18 PM

“In the Indian ethos, anything which is good is supposed to bestow, cause, create and do good in all ten directions. I will, therefore, layout our vision for ten most important dimensions in 2030.

A healthy India is the Ninth Dimension of our Vision. We will be aiming at healthy society with an environment of health assurance and the support of necessary health infrastructure. Our Government has rolled out the Ayushman Bharat scheme. By 2030, we will work towards a distress free health care and a functional and comprehensive wellness system for all. Such a healthy India built with the participation of women having equal rights and concern for their safety and empowerment.”

Concluding Remarks

“This is not merely an Interim Budget, but a medium of the country’s development journey. All the transformation that we are witnessing, is because of the passion of the people of our nation. The credit goes to them only. Development has become a mass-movement during the period of our Government.

We will transform India into a leading nation of the world with the help of our people. We, along with them have laid the foundation. A grand edifice will be erected with their support. We have given a decisive leadership, whose intent is clear, policy is transparent and integrity is resolute.

With this, I commend the Budget to this August House.”

– Medical Buyer Bureau

INDUSTRY RESPONSES

“By bringing health and artificial intelligence together on the agenda the government has set a very progressive human Resource tone. The national program on AI should be unfolded by co-opting knowledgeable stakeholders from the 9 domains that are being targeted. The AIIMS announced in Haryana is welcome. All the AIIMS in the making, including this one, should be monitored for speedy commissioning. The commitment to pursue progress in medical devices as almost a mission, is heartening and is reflective of this government’s understanding that this sector is of keystone importance.”
Pavan Choudary, DG, MTaI

“The interim budget presents some encouraging possibilities for the social and healthcare sector. While the details are still to be studied, it is reassuring to see the official recognition of artificial intelligence with the announcement of the National Artificial Intelligence Center and National AI Portal. AI is critical for the healthcare sector to mitigate the unfavorable doctor-patient ratio in INDIA, which is further compounded by the rich-poor and urban-rural divide. This combined with 2030 vision of 1 lakh digital villages could help transform the way healthcare is delivered in the country. We do hope these initiatives will be rolled out effectively and fuel a spurt of healthcare innovation in the country.”
Ashish Gupta, CEO, Docprime.com

“We applaud the government on the announcement of a budget directed towards the lesser privileged and middle class population. The budget this year has indeed addressed a lot of issues that will help the economy to prosper. The allocation of INR 19,000 crores for the development of the roads in the rural areas is a great initiative. Being an emergency medical provider, this will help us reach out to the remotest corners of the country which has connectivity constraints. The success of the Ayushman Bharat Scheme is commendable and we are glad that the healthcare sector of the country is undergoing a significant transformation. We hope that the Skill India program will include training of youths to become dedicated paramedics to help efficient and quality ambulance services. One avenue that should have been looked at is making healthcare services zero-rated under GST provisions, instead of being exempted, as the cost of inputs throughout the industry could further be reduced by claiming refunds of taxes paid on these inputs. This would help to enable these specialized services to reach out to the masses.”
Manish Sacheti, CFO, Ziqitza Healthcare Ltd

“The interim budget threw light on the government’s dedication to a healthy India with a distress-free healthcare system. The budget mentioned the government’s aim to bridge the urban rural divide and provide benefits that people in a city have to those staying in villages. Healthcare should be a critical component of these efforts. We must not lose this opportunity to address the urban-rural imbalance in health infrastructure and ensure specific policies to encourage private sector to invest in the same. The announcement of a National Center on artificial intelligence is also a big positive. AI today has great potential in transforming and designing new tools which will equip doctors in the fight against non-communicable diseases. At Apollo, we have already taken the first step with an Intelligent Platform designed to predict cardiovascular disease risk score for Indians.”
Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group

“We welcome the Central Government’s announcement to open the 22nd All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Haryana. A world-class medical facility like AIIMS in Haryana will further the cause of providing comprehensive healthcare to all in the state. In November 2018, it was announced that Ayurveda departments will be opened in all the new 19 AIIMS, such initiative will further the government’s mission of Ayurveda for Public Health. A few months ago, the Ministry of AYUSH took the pioneering step of publishing the guidelines for insurance coverage to Ayurvedic treatment and settlement of claims on the basis of benchmark rates for various interventions. Following this the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) issued clarifications to general and health insurance companies and Third Party Administrators (TPAs) to provide coverage to Ayurveda and other systems of medicines under AYUSH. We hope in coming years Ayurvedic treatment will also be covered under Ayushman Bharat, the world’s largest healthcare program.”
Dr Partap Chauhan, Director, Jiva Ayurveda

“The Finance minister has announced a people’s budget!  Even though this was an interim budget, the focus on delivering benefits to farmers and unorganized workers, tax cuts for the middle class and a kicker on real estate investments while aiming to keep the fiscal deficit more or less the same is a great achievement.  These sops are the result of a smart uptick in tax collections, both direct and indirect, over the last 2 years – giving the government the ability to balance the books. ”
Vikrant Gugnani, Founder and Managing Director, UCare

“Overall, the budget is growth oriented and pro-farmer and pro-middle class.  Economic growth at 8.2 percent and 7.1 percent in the first and second quarters and the fact that fiscal deficit is at 3.4 percent are positive signs. On the healthcare front, Ayushman Bharat scheme has been launched in a short time, which is  creditable. Effective implementation of the scheme and ensuring a win-win situation for both the healthcare providers and patients will be critical for its success in the future. Setting up of 22nd AIIMS at Haryana is a much-needed step to augment the public sector healthcare facility in the country. The government focus on Swach Bharat, Safe drinking water and food-for-all are good preventive healthcare measures, which are likely to improve the overall health and well-being being of people. The decision to extend the tax rebate on an annual income of Rs. 5 lakhs will definitely help citizens better manage their healthcare needs. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendras has also reduced the prices of essential medicines, cardiac stents and knee implants, enabling access to various income groups. We will work towards aligning our efforts with a positive impact of the national health schemes and the government’s vision towards providing a distress free healthcare and a comprehensive wellness system for all by 2030.”
Gautam Khanna, CEO, P.D. Hinduja Hospital & MRC