Tarun Chugh
The world has seen many crises in past, from World Wars, 1973-1974 oil crisis, Cold War, recession of early 90s to Global Economic Slowdown in 2008, but the extraordinary health crisis the world witnessed a year ago, challenged every set of Government on the face of Earth, in terms of health infrastructure, political outcomes, economic outcome and sociocultural decisions.
Keeping the human lives paramount to the economic activity, BJP led NDA-Government under the leadership of Narendra Modi ji came up with a visionary budget for the fiscal year 2021-2022 which can be termed as the best budget of the past 100 years. Having a clear goal to cater to the need of a healthy India, which in turn will drive the economy and build a resilient and stronger nation, the Government proposed an outlay of Rs 2,23,846 crores for health and well-being, an increase of 137% from the previous year. The Government also earmarked Rs 35,000 crores for COVID-19 vaccine in the coming fiscal with an assurance to infuse more whenever needed in order to make India COVID-19 free.
With a view to serve the last person in the society, the Government came up with a new centrally sponsored scheme, PM Aatmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana, that will be launched with an outlay of about Rs. 64,180 crores in a period of over 6 years. This will develop capacities of primary, secondary, and tertiary care Health Systems, strengthen existing national institutions, and create new institutions, to cater to detection and cure of new and emerging diseases. The extra burden on the shoulders of households will be countered and they will be able to utilize the money in fruitful investments instead of
battling with unnecessary medical expenditures, thereby contributing in the regular circulation of wealth in the market, resulting in their enhancement of wealth coupled with enhancement of Indian Economy.
Narendra Modi ji’s Government, via the fiscal budget assured to support to 17,788 rural and 11,024 urban Health and Wellness Centers and is going to set up integrated public health labs in all districts and 3382 block public health units in 11 states along with establishment of critical care hospital blocks in 602 districts and 12 central institutions.
The sole aim of the Government is to provide the best of the healthcare facilities to the citizens at their doorstep, freeing them from the worries of loss of fortune while hospitalization in metro cities, that not only involve medical expenses but also involves the cost of travelling from one place to another for treatment.
The Government with an aim to check for the emerging diseases for its timely detection, containment and finding medical measures, is strengthening National Centre for Disease Control which carries out nationwide disease surveillance which assess public health emergencies and averts the crisis before it occurs. The visionary Government under the guidance of Narendra Modi-ji is strengthening it’s 5 regional branches and 20 metropolitan health surveillance units for enhance its performance. The health sector is the major takeaway from the budget of 2021-2022.
Along with enhancing the Health sector, the Government showed its commitment towards protecting India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity from expansionist regimes like China. Keeping the words of our former Prime Minister Late. Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji in mind that, “You can change your friends, but you cannot change your neighbors”, the Government of the day came up with the biggest budget allocation of all times to 4.78 trillion Indian Rupees.
During the pandemic, while every other country was busy saving the lives of their citizens and catering the needs of humanity, some expansionist regimes were bullying their neighbors by encroaching their land. Countering such expansionist regimes is the need of the hour and the world is witnessing a unity of many major countries against such expansionist regimes. Hence, with a view to protect the sovereignty of India and cater to the needs of a strong and a stable world order, the Indian Government came with the biggest defense proposal of all times, while also stressing on the research and development so that the men in uniform could get the best of the scientific equipment.
With a view to boost the domestic manufacturing, the Government has made a provision of Rs 15,700 crore for the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in the Union Budget 2021-22 which was more than double the previous year. The Government paid special emphasis to the products manufactured by MSMEs such as iron and steel, mobile parts, auto parts, agricultural products, renewable energy, textile etc. in order to boost country manufacturing.
The Narendra Modi Government with a view to strengthen the agricultural infrastructure in order to increase the productivity, proposed Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) on a small number of items. While doing so, the Government kept in mind that the consumer will not have to bear the pain on most of the items. Aligning with the Make in India initiative, the Government focused on catering to the needs of domestic manufacturing by doing away with facilitation of foreign goods in a phased manner.
The Government also made sure that focus on green energy shall be maintained to sustain environment along with the nation building process.
Last but not the least, the north-eastern states which hold a very strategic importance on the face of our national geography have been given special importance. This is done in order to strengthen our position in the South Asian Region via Act East Policy.
With the development of infrastructure in the seven sister states which have been an abode of opportunities in the form of its geographical position, rich nature and agro-climatic conditions, we will be able to harness it’s potential, leading towards the development of the region, which will in turn will lead to the development of the Nation as a whole.
Therefore, we can say that the visionary Government under the Prime Ministership of Narendra Modi ji, addressed the key issues with the best of the possible solutions which received praises from major economies. The Government not only won hearts of people across the globe, but also showed its might and efficiency through its Vaccine Diplomacy which paved way for a better and healthier future.
(The author is National General Secretary Bharatiya Janata Party)
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