Reader may think that I have mistaken by title "What is health budget?" and not the "How much is health budget?". But it is not so. In this space I want to discuss about the meaning of health budget.

Paragraph 39 of the Budget speech 2021-22

The Budget outlay for Health and Well being is 2,23,846 crores in BE 2021-22 as against this year’s BE of `94,452 crores an increase of 137 percentage. The details of the same are at Annexure I of the Speech

Annexure 1 is here :

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's budget is commonly referred to as the "health budget". Nonetheless, the finance minister announced a 137% increase in the budgetary allotment for "Health and Well-being" after taking into account the budget for water and sanitation.

Many articles have been written then about this gimmick. K Sujatha Rao is a former Union Health Secretary written in Business standards that, "Budgets, like miniskirts, are expected to hide more and reveal less. TV headlines suggesting a 137% increase in health budgets is sadly misleading" India spends and NewsClick also published good article on the issue.

Readers may question the need to revisit this topic since that it has been discussed extensively for the past two years. There is a cause for it now, as well as a context. A report by the Standing Committee of the Parliament that was presented to Loksabha on March 20, 2023, suggested that:

The Committee further notes that as per Economic Survey 2022-23, the total health expenditure as percentage to GDP was 2.1 %, however, the expenditure on ‘Health’ includes expenditure on ‘Medical and Public Health’, ‘Family Welfare’, and ‘Water Supply and Sanitation.

The Committee recommends that only the Budget of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and States Health Budget should be exclusively considered under Total Health Expenditure.

There is no denying the connection between water and sanitation and health. But there are other factors that are related to health and well being but not included in the definition of the health budget like clean air, infrastructure (road accidents), working conditions etc. So the question is: Why does the government define health and well-being to include water and sanitation but not the clean air programme? The answer is simple - Goverment is running Jal Jeevan misison which aimed to spend 3.6 lakh crore in water sector in five years. Under this goverment is spending 50,000 crore plus amount since couple of years. Therefore, the inclusion of the water in health budget makes the figure of the health expenditure impressive.

Following are the questions to goverment about their definition of the health and well being budget ?

1. When the expenditure of the water and sanitation considered as health then why there is a separate Ministry of Jal shakti ? Why not goverment merge it with Ministry of health ?

2. As per the UNESCO, "A good quality education is the foundation of health and well-being. For people to lead healthy and productive lives, they need knowledge to prevent sickness and disease."

   So the quesiton is , Why the Education budget is not considered as part of the health budget ?

3. Exposure to air pollution can lead to a wide range of diseases, including stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancers, aggravated asthma and lower respiratory infections.
   
   Even after that, why the spending for the clean air does not included in the budget of the health and well being ?

4. Live hood, Live hood opportunities and work culture is closely linked to the health and well being of the citizen.

   In this case, why the budget of the PM Kisan, MGNREGA and Pension expenditure is included as the health budget ?

5. Goverment of India portal mentions that - PM Ujjwala Yojana is designed to protect the health of the women by curbing health issues that result from consuming fossil fuels and other fuels used for cooking.

   In this case, Why the budget of the PM Ujjwala Yojana and LPG subsidy does not included in definition of the health budget ?

6. During the year 2021, a total number of 4,12,432 road accidents have been reported in the country, claiming 1,53,972 lives and causing injuries to 3,84,448 persons

   Even after that, why is the funding for improving road infrastructure, eliminating accident-causing blind spots, etc., not included in the health budget?

I am aware that these questions don't make much sense. So, the government's trick of including water and sanitation in the health budget in order to boost the figures for health expenditure.

From Water to Air, Food to Sanitation, Livelihood to shelter - all subjects are deeply linked to the health and well being. In fact the whole budget of the goverment aimed to boost the well being of the citizen. But that does not mean that goverment can widen the definition of the health and include all in the definition of the "health and well being " budget.