There is finally good news coming the health ministry’s way. The health ministry is expected to get a three-fold increase in the fund allocation by the Planning Commission for the 12th Five-Year Plan as compared to the funds allocated in the earlier plan. While allocation for the ministry was about `84,000 crores for the 11th Five-Year Plan, it is expected to be around `2,80,000 crores this time.
However, sources say that the department of drinking water and sanitation may be tagged along the health ministry. The full Planning Commission meeting, to be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday, is expected to approve the draft 12th Five-Year Plan, including health and family welfare. The entire plan will be sent to the National Development Council in October and then to the Cabinet.
The fund for the National AIDS Control Organisation is also expected to see a huge hike as compared to the earlier allocation.
The likely increase in the allocation of funds can be seen as a victory for the health ministry which had strongly reacted to the miserly allocation of 1.58 per cent of the GDP — a paltry 13 per cent hike as proposed earlier in the 12th Plan document by the Planning Commission.
As reported by this newspaper, Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has written to Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia flagging his concerns over the draft plan and has demanded higher allocation for the health sector.