Dr. Vivek Desai Founder & MD, HOSMAC

“Whilst one welcomes the FM’S point on creating a National Digital Health Ecosystem which will be beneficial in the long-run and creation of Tele Mental Health centres. However, except for doubling allocation for the Ayushman Bharat from Rs 3199 cr to Rs 6412 cr, there isn’t much stimulus for the healthcare sector. This is surprising as everyone was hoping that healthcare infrastructure creation will get a boost in some way after two continuous years of pandemic that hit the healthcare sector. One may need to evaluate the fine print of health budget allocations to see how the funds have been allocated. India’s glaring need is to create more hospital beds and increased skilling of medical and paramedical human resources to service these beds.”