New Delhi, July 6 (Inditop.com) The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the premier research and education body here that also caters to 8,000 patients every day, topped the list of medical institutes benefiting from the union budget announced Monday.
India’s health budget has gone up by nearly Rs.4,000 crore to Rs.21,113.33 crore ($4.35 billion) with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee giving special emphasis to rural healthcare.
Of the total health budget, AIIMS got a major chunk as it was allocated Rs.677 crore, up from last fiscal’s Rs.573.42 crore.
The Delhi-based institute is among the top 10 medical colleges in the world, and caters mostly to the underprivileged people that flock to it from all over the country. It has over 2,200 beds. The Newsweek magazine described it as an “oasis of the poor”.
Among the seven medical institutes receiving budgetary funds, the Safdarjung Hospital, in the heart of Delhi, was allocated Rs.226 crore in 2009-10 as against Rs.238.37 crore in the last fiscal.
The Vardhaman Mahaveer Medical college, which shares its campus with the Safdarjung Hospital, too has received 25 percent less budgetary allocation than the last financial year. It has been allocated Rs.15 crore in 2009-10 as against Rs.20 crore in the previous fiscal.
The Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) of Chandigarh has been allotted Rs.385 crore as against Rs.268.04 crore in the last fiscal.
The Delhi-based Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital will get Rs.193.3 crore as compared to Rs.164.61 crore in the last fiscal. The Lady Hardinge College has been allocated Rs.155 crore as against Rs.121.87 crore in the previous year.
The Kalawati Saran hospital, which caters specifically to children, has got Rs.40 crore in budget funds as against Rs.41.27 crore last year.
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