Outlay for Health up 11 Percent; 333 More Mohalla Clinics by July

The health sector saw an increase of about 11 percent from last year’s allocation, with a total outlay of Rs 7,485 crore in the budget presented on Tuesday. Regarding the pet project of mohalla clinics, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said 189 clinics had been set up so far and 333 more would be set up by the end of June. However, the government is still far from the target of 1000 mohalla clinics it had set for itself. Sisodia said 25 polyclinics were in operation and 94 dispensaries were being remodelled to start polyclinics. An outlay of Rs 375 crore is proposed for mohalla clinics and polyclinics. The government proposed a total of Rs 588 crore to enhance the bed strength from 10,000 beds to 20,000 in its hospitals and to expand or remodel existing hospitals. “The work of construction of a 500-bed hospital at Ambedkar Nagar and an 800-bed hospital at Burari will be completed shortly. The construction work for a 1,241-bed hospital at Dwarka is at an advanced stage. Projects for remodelling of existing hospitals viz RTRM hospital, Acharya Shree Bhikshu Hospital, Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital, Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, Dr Baba Sahib Ambedkar Hospital and Guru Govind Singh Hospital, etc. at a cost of Rs 963 crore have been sanctioned,” said Sisodia. – New Indian Express