HFM Jan-March 2015 Empowering Adolescents and Youth

Theme – Reproductive and Child Health

The new government promised to look at the issues and problems confronting the Social Sector, including inadequate allocation of resources. It raised lots of hopes when there was serious pronouncement on rolling out National Health Assurance, which suppose to include provision of quality services at the government facilities, supplying 50 essential generic medicines free of cost to all citizens as well as ensuring a climate of Health Promotion, including Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, throughout the country. Some of us had the pleasure of working with the government on these proposed agenda. Suddenly the whole priority seem to have changed with the announcement of the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission as well as the 2015-16 budget. Most of the Social Sector budgets are slashed and the above schemes on Health Sector are shelved. It was announced that since there will be significantly more resources available to the States and much of the Social Sectors are States subjects, additional funding should be available to this sector from the enhanced State budget. There was also proactive push to middle class citizens to buy Health Insurance which was facilitated by certain amount of Income Tax exemption.