New Delhi, Jul 6 (UNI) Indian Medical Association on Saturday said the Union Budget is a 'huge disappointment' as health remains the only subject which Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has preferred to 'downplay'.
'There is no clarity of enhancement of investment in Ayushman Bharat PMJAY either. The atmosphere of violence in our hospitals is directly due to inadequacy of infrastructure and human resources in public sector and out of pocket expenditure in private sector. 15.4 per cent higher allocation is a myth and provides for only the inflation. There is absolutely no indication of any vision towards raising the Public Health expenditure to 2.5 per cent of GDP,' the IMA said in a statement here.
Allocation of Rs 2,000 crore for converting district hospitals into new medical colleges and Rs 1,361 crore for strengthening government medical colleges (MBBS) are however, the only silver streaks among the lacklustre budget.