By Admin 
Union Budget 2026-27: From education to health sector, huge expectations are being expressed regarding the Union Budget 2026 to be presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February. On one hand, there is a demand for increasing expenditure on health infrastructure, research and development and public health services, on the other hand, special focus is expected on quality and skill-based reforms in the field of education and higher education.
In the last financial year 2025-26, the budget allocation for health services was increased by 9.8 percent to Rs 99,858.56 crore, while in the financial year 2024-25 this amount was Rs 90,958.63 crore.
Major demands of health sector
Dr. P.R., President of IIHMR University. Sodani says that large scale investment is needed to strengthen the health sector. Under this, special attention should be given to human resources, digital transformation and strengthening infrastructure. To reduce the out-of-pocket health expenditure of the common people, a significant increase in government expenditure on public health is necessary.
He said that the capacity and skills of human resources should be strengthened by making effective use of the increased public health expenditure, so that qualified talent can be attracted to this sector. Promoting training and capacity building will accelerate better management of health services as well as research and development and digital health transformation.
Expectations of education sector
Talking about the education sector, Rs 1,28,650.05 crore was allocated for it in the financial year 2025-26, which was about 6.5 percent more than the previous year. This includes Rs 78,572 crore for school education and Rs 50,078 crore for higher education. Apart from this, Rs 500 crore was allocated for Artificial Intelligence (AI) research.
Pankaj Priya, deputy director and dean (academics), Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH), Greater Noida, said that merely addressing the lack of cognitive skills in the education sector is not enough. When the central government is taking forward the skilling agenda at the national level, then its responsibility cannot be left only to the state governments.
He said that there is an urgent need to adapt the curriculum at the higher education level to emerging technologies like Industry 4.0, Generative AI and Machine Learning. The National Education Policy 2020 also recognizes this change and aims to connect at least 50 percent of students in school and higher education with skill-based education by the year 2025.
Emphasis on quality in education is necessary
According to Pankaj Priya, the Economic Survey 2024-25 shows that the number of colleges has increased by 13.8 percent in the last eight years and the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) has increased from 23.7 percent to 28.4 percent. However, the next phase of reforms should not be limited to just increasing access, but should focus on quality of education, deep research capacity and strong employment-oriented outcomes.
He said that Budget 2026 is an important opportunity to make India’s education system globally competitive, innovation-focused and a strong base of future-ready talent. Government initiatives focused on cutting-edge technologies can be taken maximum advantage of by promoting innovation and entrepreneurial mindset.
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