Consecutive Rajasthan governments have been stingy on health budget

JAIPUR: The deaths of 112 infants in 37 days in JK Lon Hospital in Kota due to shortage of medical equipment, poor infrastructure and vacant post of doctors/nursing staff prove that the state health budget had been falling short to meet the basic needs in the healthcare system.

Figures say in the current financial year, the health budget of Rs 13,039 crore constitute for about 5.90% of the total budget. The budgetary allocation for healthcare in the last two financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19 was 6.07% and 6.05%, respectively.

The preliminary reports say that cause of deaths was poor facilities like shortage of warmers, heaters, seats in intensive care units, oxygen cylinders and other medical equipment. These facilities are bought under capital funds within the health budget. Irony is that the capital budget had been least spend in the last few years. The average figure says that from 2014-15 to 2017-18, less than 50% of the capital funds had been utilised in the previous government.

Nisar Ahmed of Budget Analysis and Research Centre Trust (BARC), a research centre which monitors state budget, expenditure and spending said, “The deaths of infants shouldn’t be seen as a phenomena occurred overnight or in the last few months. It is a cumulative failure of the poor budgetary allocation added with unspent capital funds. Questions should also be raised to the previous government for not spending the amount for f building facilities,” said Ahmed.

Data procured from state budget pages says that budgetary allocation has increased by 9.61% from 2018-19 to 2019-20 while the health budget show insignificant rise of just 1.76% by the present Congress government.

“The previous government has not only neglected health budget, but spent on the privatisation of health services. The focus was on health insurance schemes at the cost of primary healthcare schemes by former CM Vasundhara Raje government,” said Chhaya Pancholi, a healthcare activist.

The rise of health budget (in %) in proportion to the state budget in the financial years—2016-17, 2017-18 were 2018-19 were 1.29/9.74, 2.24/10.34 and 18.3/31.41 respectively. According to self-confession by health minister Raghu Sharma, the JK Lone Hospital in Kota has an unspent amount of Rs 6 crore under the medical relief society of the hospital. TOI had repeatedly called up the health minister, but got no response.