Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday that a National Tele Mental Health Programme will be launched to improve access to quality mental health counselling and care services
The health sector has been allocated Rs 86200.65 crore in the Union Budget, a hike of 16 percent over Rs 73,931 crore in 2021-22, with the government also announcing a National Tele Mental Health Programme and roll out of an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem.
Out of Rs 86200.65 crore, Rs 83,000 crore have been allocated to the Department of Health and Family Welfare while Rs 3200 crore have been allocated to the Department of Health Research.
In her Budget speech for the fiscal year beginning April 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday that a National Tele Mental Health Programme will be launched to improve access to quality mental health counselling and care services.
She said the programme will include a network of 23 tele-mental health centres of excellence, with NIMHANS being the nodal centre and the International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIITB) providing technology support.
She also said that an open platform for National Digital Health Ecosystem will be rolled out.
“It will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity, consent framework, and universal access to health facilities,” she said.
The budget allocation for central sector schemes and projects has been increased from Rs 10,566 crore to Rs 15,163 crore.
Among these central sector schemes, the budget allocation for the Pardhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana has been increased from Rs 70,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore. The allocation for National Digital Health Mission – NHM has been increased from Rs 30 crore to Rs 200 crore.
For the National Health Mission, the budget allocation increased from Rs 36576 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 37,000 crore in 2022-23.
The budget allocation for autonomous bodies increased from Rs 8566 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 10,022 crore in 2022-23.
The budget allocation for statutory and regulatory bodies slightly increased from Rs 315 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 335 crore in 2022-23.