Post-Budget reaction: Dr Azad Moopen, Founder Chairman and MD, Aster DM Healthcare
The Union Budget 2023-24 has an excellent focus on skill development and addresses one of the core challenges that the healthcare industry is facing today – the shortage of nursing staff, through the announcement to start 157 nursing colleges alongside existing medical colleges.
However, the overall impetus for the healthcare delivery sector is missing. We were hoping for an increase in budget allocation for the industry which is essential to fulfilling the need gaps. The need to have more hospitals and healthcare facilities in rural and suburban areas to meet the rising demand remains untouched. Hope the government would put more focus on public-private partnerships (PPP) to address this.
We were also hoping for concessions for NRIs residing abroad like a reduction on TDS for those who have a source of income in India and are required to pay taxes in the country they reside in, flight prices, and a health scheme for those who are returning to India to retire, among others. However, these remain untouched as well.
