More medical seats to boost doctor-patient ratio; Mission Shakti’s allocation commendable: Experts

New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS) The government’s announcement, in the Union Budget 2025-26, to add 10,000 seats next year and 75,000 seats in the next five years heralds a significant boost to India’s healthcare sector and will boost the doctor-patient ratio in the country, said public health experts on Saturday.

The Union Budget was tabled in the Parliament today by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Presenting her eighth consecutive budget and the NDA government’s second full Union Budget of its third term, Sitharaman said that India has seen remarkable growth in medical education in the last 10 years.

“The decision to add 10,000 seats per year — an increase of nearly 5 per cent of the current capacity — will help improve the doctor-patient ratio and make both secondary and tertiary care more accessible and affordable. Every additional seat also translates to the addition of four beds to the medical college and hospital. In five years, this initiative would add 300,000 more beds, nearly one-third of the current capacity in the public sector,” said Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Partner Strategy and Transactions, Govt Advisory Services, EY India.

The government may consider expanding existing medical colleges wherever possible to optimize expenditure. The plan to add about 200 day care cancer centres in all district hospitals this year, “will strengthen cancer care infrastructure, reducing mortality rates and improving patient outcomes. The impact would be even greater if screening infrastructure is strengthened and care pathways are well-defined,” Sundaram said.

“The government would do well to reskill the hospital teams to run the daycare cancer centres. We also hope that the budget would pave the way for the affordability of robotic surgery,” Mahendra Bhandari, CEO of the Vattikuti Foundation, a champion of robotic surgery.

“Adding 75,000 medical college seats over the next five years will place much-needed emphasis on producing medical graduates who have access to advanced, new-age tools and have demonstrated mastery in the use of AI and other novel techniques that transcend traditional approaches to deliver better patient outcomes,” he added.

The Finance Minister also announced exemptions on basic customs duty on 36 lifesaving drugs, providing relief to patients, particularly those suffering from cancer, rare diseases, and other severe chronic diseases.

This is especially a boon considering that India ranks third in cancer cases worldwide, after China and the USA, according to the Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN). In addition, the budget for Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0 (Rs 21,960 crore) increased by 9 per cent from last year’s Rs 20,071 crore.

“This reflects the government’s growing recognition of the importance of early childhood nutrition and the first 1,000 days of a child’s development,” said Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director, Population Foundation of India while also welcoming the Union Budget’s focus on youth and skilling for India’s demographic dividend.

“The 117 per cent increase in Mission Shakti’s allocation to Rs 3,150 crore — which funds Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, One Stop Centres, and women’s safety initiatives — is commendable,” the expert said.

However, while financial outlays for economic support have increased, critical health investments for women remain grossly inadequate, she said, calling for effective implementation and monitoring of these schemes.

–IANS

rvt/