The State Budget 2023-24 speaks about transforming Kerala into global healthcare capital, providing better healthcare services, focussing on health tourism and expanding and modernising existing facilities.
“Navakerala Karma Padhati-2”, which has clubbed Rebuild Kerala Initiative and four Missions — Haritha Keralam, Aardram, LIFE and Vidya Kiranam — together gets an outlay of ₹10 crores in the Budget, while a chunk of the outlay of ₹2,828.33 crore for public health has been consumed by two Central health schemes run with State share — National Health Mission (₹500 cr) and Ayushman Bharat-Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhati (₹574.5 crore).
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Not even half of what was envisaged under Aardam — conversion of primary health centres to family health centres, improvement of district and taluk hospitals and increase in human resources in health — have been executed and without a substantial budgetary allocation, Aardram is being put on the backburner, officials say.
Mr. Balagopal has claimed that the allocation for AB-KASP, the health insurance scheme covering nearly 42 lakh families in the State, is ₹74 crore more than what had been set aside in the previous year.
It is also claimed that the outlay for public health (₹2,828.33 crore) this year is ₹196.5 cr more than that of 2022-23.
The revenue expenditure on health was ₹12,012 crore in 2021-22 , compared to which the Budget allocation had come down to ₹10,144 crore in 2022-23 . In the fiscal 2023-24, the health allocation has further slid to ₹10,101 crore, about ₹43 crore less than last year’s allocation.
