By Admin 
Health is one of the biggest priorities of every country. The progress of the country is not possible without a strong and healthy society. In the last few years, many schemes have been started in India to improve the condition of health services and hospitals, but the real picture of the government budget says something else. The Government of India had implemented a special cess (tax) for health and education in 2018. It was introduced to increase health expenditure and meet the health needs of the people of the country, especially BPL (poor) and rural families. The general feeling was that this cess would increase expenditure in the health sector and support the existing health budget of the government. But the figures and budget details show that the reality is quite the opposite.
Health expenditure reduced while cess is being collected
The total budget expenditure of the government for the health sector is now less than before. In 2017-18, expenditure on health and family welfare was 2.4 per cent of total government expenditure. But in the budget estimate of 2026-27, it has come down to only 1.9 percent. If we look at it in proportion to GDP, it has fallen from 0.28 percent to 0.26 percent. The thing to note is that the money collected from health cess in 2026-27,
That is about 30 percent of the total expenditure of the health budget, that is, if this cess is removed, then the expenditure on health will be only 1.3 percent of the total budget, which is not even half as compared to 2017-18. This means that the cess is only pretending to increase expenditure, but in reality the expenditure on health is decreasing. If there was no cess, the health sector budget would have been only 0.18 percent of GDP.
What do the budget figures tell?
The data clearly shows that the Indian government’s actual expenditure on health has been continuously declining, even though the budget shows a slight increase due to the cess. The share of health in the total government expenditure was 2.4 percent in 2017-18, which has come down to 1.9 percent in 2026-27. If we exclude cess, this share is even less, only 1.3 percent. The same decline is visible in the ratio of GDP. It has reduced from 0.28 percent to 0.26 percent, and after removing the cess it becomes only 0.18 percent. This means that despite the cess, the actual budget received by the health sector is continuously decreasing and is far behind the goals of the National Health Policy.
National Health Policy Objective
According to the National Health Policy, expenditure on health was to be 2.5 percent of GDP by 2025. The share of the central government in this should have been about 0.9 percent of GDP. But currently the expenditure on health is only 0.26 percent of the GDP, i.e. almost three times less than the target. If 2.4 percent of the total budget was spent on health like in 2017, then the budget without cess in 2026-27 should have been around Rs 1.2 lakh crore. But the actual expenditure including cess is only Rs 1 lakh crore.
The real purpose and shortcomings of cess
Experts say that health and education cess only creates the illusion of increasing expenditure. The cess money goes into a reserve fund outside the main budget and there is no transparency or outcome measurement on it. The cess collected for health in 2018-19 and 2019-20 went to general revenue. About Rs 20,600 crore which was collected for health, was not put to much use.
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Disclaimer: This information is based on research studies and expert opinion. Do not consider this as a substitute for medical advice. Before adopting any new activity or exercise, please consult your doctor or relevant specialist.
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