Bhopal: Additional funds have been pumped into health services to deal with the corona pandemic across the world. On the other hand, the MP government that speaks about boosting health services has trimmed the budget of those departments connected with health.
The government has this year lessened the budget of the health department and that of the medical education department. It is less than last year’s. The health department was given Rs 7,702 crore in 2019-20. In 2020-21, it has been reduced to Rs 7,557 crore. The department has so far been given Rs 6,709 crore which is less than the proposed budget.
Most of the arrangements for treating the corona patients were made in the hospitals affiliated to the medical colleges.
The government has, however, cut down the budget of the medical education department. In 2019-20, the budget for this department was Rs 2, 638 crore, but this year, it has been reduced to Rs 2,299 crore.
Apart from that, the budget for corona medicines has also been trimmed. The wings of both the departments that take care of the health services have been clipped in more than one ways.
The State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), in connection with the pandemic, has been given a little amount of money.
The budget for salary, dearness allowance and wages has been drastically cut. As a result of this cut, the department is unable to pay salaries at many places. Medical education minister Vishwash Sarang said that the budget had been reduced but blamed the previous Congress government for it.
According to Sarang, the fiscal health of the state had deteriorated because of the Congress, so the budget was reduced.
The shortage of funds will not come in the way of improving health services, nonetheless, he said.
Former minister Vijay Lakshmi Sadho has said the BJP government hardly cares about public health.
In 2011, there had been a proposal for setting up biology laboratories in medical colleges, but that remained only on papers till 2018, she said.
After coming to power, the Congress government had set up laboratories in four medical colleges, and for that reason, tests could now be conducted, she said.
Reduction of budget for the health department indicates that the government barely thinks about the improvement of health services, she said.
