AIIMS gets ₹310cr extra; others to get more funds too

AIIMS gets ₹310cr extra; others to get more funds too

02.02.2021

DurgeshNandan.Jha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:

All India Institute of Medical Sciences got a hike of over Rs 310 crore in the Union Budget 2021-22. The Centre approved an outlay of Rs 3,800 crore for the hospital in Monday's Budget when it had allotted Rs 3,490 crore last year.

The doctors at the hospital say the institution needed this hike to expand the infrastructure. “There is large-scale expansion of infrastructure taking place at AIIMS. An increased outlay will help complete that and transform the hospital for the better,” said a senior doctor. Recently, the hospital has started burns and plastic surgery facilities. Sources said the newly-constructed surgery and geriatric blocks would also get operational soon.

Apart from AIIMS, Centre has increased the Budget outlay of other major hospitals in Delhi too. Safdarjung has been allocated Rs 1,515 crore, an increase of Rs 227 crore from last year’s Rs 1,318 crore. Ram Manohar Lohia has been allocated Rs 950 crore.

The Budget outlay for Lady Hardinge Medical College and Sucheta Kriplani Hospital are Rs 600 crore and Rs 145 crore, respectively. In total, a Budget outlay of Rs 2,23,846 crore has been proposed for health and wellbeing in 2021-20, an increase of 137% over previous year, with Rs 35,000 crore earmarked for Covid-19 vaccine in the upcoming fiscal.

Poonam Khetrapal Singh, egional director, WHO South-East Asia, says one of the greatest lessons this pandemic has taught the world is that health needs to be a priority.

Safdarjung Hospital has been allocated ₹1,515 crore, an increase of ₹227 crore from last year’s ₹1,318 crore. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital has been allocated ₹950 crore