Budget reaction: Abhishek Trigunait, Global Chief Technology Officer, ZS

It’s heartening to see the increased budget outlay of 2.23 lakh crore, with a whopping 137 per cent increase from the last year. Additional healthcare spending of Rs 64,180 crore under PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana will enable Indian Healthcare ecosystem to plan better for curing new and emerging diseases.

The focus on public health is very visible with the setup of integrated public health labs in every district and the goal to have 17,000 rural and 11,000 urban health and wellness centers. This will go a long way in increasing access at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, with focus on preventive and diagnostics-based healthcare for the masses. A key challenge however will remain in reaching this goal efficiently, keeping key quality targets in mind.

The spending on COVID of 35,000 crores, though expected, would go a long way in helping everyone deal with this pandemic and help India emerge stronger, reading to a speedy recovery.”