India News | Increase Spending on Healthcare: AAP Rajya Sabha Member
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora on Thursday asked the government to increase spending on healthcare saying affordability is still an issue in India, while also seeking regulations on pricing by private healthcare providers.
New Delhi, Feb 6 (PTI) AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora on Thursday asked the government to increase spending on healthcare saying affordability is still an issue in India, while also seeking regulations on pricing by private healthcare providers.
Participating in the motion of thanks to the President's address, Arora asserted that healthcare is not a privilege but a fundamental right.
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"Affordability of health (care) is still an issue in our country," he said, adding there are various critical gaps in making the healthcare system affordable.
Citing studies, Arora pointed out that around 7.5 per cent of families in India are pushed into poverty because of "one critical healthcare issue in the family".
"Budgetary allocation is too less as far as healthcare is concerned," he noted, adding as per National Health Policy 2017, 2.5 per cent of GDP was to be spent on healthcare by 2025.
"Still only 0.27 per cent of GDP is being spent on healthcare and only 2 per cent of total budgetary allocation is going towards healthcare," he noted.
Citing a report by SBI which mooted spending on healthcare to be 5 per cent of GDP, Arora said,"...increase healthcare expenditure to at least 2.5 per cent of GDP, if not 5 per cent."
Calling for regulations on pricing by private healthcare providers, he said, "Private hospitals charge arbitrarily across states for one reason that there is no control over the charges being charged by them."
He pointed out that consumables and diagnostic tests are overpriced due to lack of price centralisation and in some cases, even after setting ceiling prices for medical devices like stents, knee replacements, the hospital charges are increased.
Arora also asked the government to fill vacancies in newly set up AIIMS across India, while also increasing the number of seats for post graduate courses in medical sciences to avoid brain drain.
Participating in the discussion, IUML member Abdul Wahab alleged there is a general sentiment that a Parliamentary democracy is getting diluted in India.
"There is a general sentiment here and abroad that Parliamentary democracy is getting diluted," he said while opposing the motion of thanks to the President's address.
Wahab also said "An Opposition delayed is Democracy denied" slogan is nowadays beginning to reverberate.
Protesting the way the government has formed joint parliamentary committees, he alleged that inputs from Opposition members are not taken into considerations in such committees, he alleged.
He also said Kerala was totally ignored in the Budget and sought more funds for Wayanad which was hit by a deadly landslide last year.
In his speech, BSP member Ramji lamented that SC/ST people in India are still a long way from being treated as equals, while pointing out violence against Dalit women and children.
Participating in the debate, Lahar Singh Siroya (BJP) supported the government's 'one nation one election' initiative saying the current electoral process has become expensive, while also suggesting state funding to be considered for elections.
Amar Pal Maurya (BJP) highlighted steps taken by the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi to uplift the poor and farmers and accused the Congress of creating divide between rich and poor after India's independence.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)