Delhi Budget 2023-24: Health sector gets Rs 9,742 cr

NEW DELHI: Delhi government has allocated Rs 9,742 crore to the health sector for the financial year 2023-24, a marginal decline from last year, announced Finance Minister Kailash Gahlot on Wednesday.

Tabling the budget, Gahlot informed that the number of free diagnostic tests in Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics will increase from 256 to 450 this year. ''Besides education, health is an important sector which has received the attention of the Kejriwal government. Rs 9,742 crore has been allocated for health in 2023-24,'' said Gahlot.

Last year, Rs 9,769 crore was allocated to the health sector.

Delhi has 515 Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics, four Mahila Mohalla Clinics, 174 Allopathic Dispensaries, 60 Primary Urban Health Centres (PUHCs), 30 Polyclinics and 39 Multi-Specialty Hospitals that have become the backbone of the city's good health, the minister said.

''The number of free diagnostic tests in Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics will increase from 256 to 450 this year,'' Gahlot added.

The budget also proposes a plan to open 100 Mahila Mohalla Clinics, Gahlot said, adding nine new hospitals are being constructed in the city and four of them will get operational this year.

''As of now 15 hospitals are being extended and remodelled. The hospital bed count in the city will increase from 14,000 to 30,000. The ambulance fleet has been increased from 250 to 395 in the last two years and another 38 will be added this year,'' he said.