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7,380-crore boost for health infrastructure in BMC budget

Feb 05, 2025 08:30 AM IST

The ₹7,380.44 crore allocation is 13.95% more than last year, at ₹6,350.53 crore. Of the total allocation, ₹5,207.70 crore has been provided as revenue expenditure and ₹2,172.73 crore as capital expenditure

MUMBAI: Civic health infrastructure received a thrust in the civic budget presented on Tuesday, including the redevelopment of civic hospitals, creation of super-specialty facilities, and the addition of new HBT clinics, which aim to improve access to health care.

Mumbai, India - April 17, 2020: People passby KEM Hospital, Parel in Mumbai, India, on Friday, April 17, 2020. (Photo by Pratik Chorge/Hindustan Times) (Pratik Chorge/HT Photo)
Mumbai, India - April 17, 2020: People passby KEM Hospital, Parel in Mumbai, India, on Friday, April 17, 2020. (Photo by Pratik Chorge/Hindustan Times) (Pratik Chorge/HT Photo)

This was the focus of the 7,380.44 crore allocated for public health in the budget for FY2025-26 presented by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday. The 7,380.44 crore allocation is 13.95% more than last year, at 6,350.53 crore. Of the total allocation, 5,207.70 crore has been provided as revenue expenditure and 2,172.73 crore as capital expenditure.

Various civic hospitals are currently being redeveloped, with their infrastructure and medical facilities undergoing a major upgrade. The redevelopment will also increase the number of beds by 3,515, taking the total to 49,893 beds. This surpasses the requirement under the National Health Policy 2017 for the year 2024.

Additionally, super-specialty facilities in disciplines such as oncology, nephrology and gastroenterology will be built in the suburbs, for which 306.29 crore has been provided. Also, 25 new Hindu Hridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray (HBT) Aapla Dawakhana centres and three physiotherapy centres will be added to the existing 250 HBT clinics.

The budget has allocated major civic hospitals 2,455.89 crore, of which King Edward Memorial in Parel, BYL Nair Charitable Hospital in Mumbai Central, and Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital in Sion to expand the number of dialysis beds and In-Vitro fertilisation (IVF) services.

The zero-prescription policy, announced in 2024-25 and which received an allocation of 500 crore last year, was not implemented. A senior official from a major civic hospital said, “The tendering process was long, and some tenders had to be re-issued. This is why it could not be implemented. Now the process is almost complete and should be operational in the next two months.”

A non-communicable disease prevention programme, which plans to vaccinate girls aged 9 to 14 with the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer will be implemented. Additionally, a ward-wise comprehensive cancer care model will be implemented for oral, breast and cervical cancer control. The programme was initiated last year and its coverage will be expanded with private sector involvement.

Under the Arogya Kutumbam programme, the civic body plans to screen 3 million citizens this year, with an extra focus on elderly citizens.

After the BMC ran a Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination drive to tackle tuberculosis across the city last year, the civic body has initiated several measures for the detection and treatment of tuberculosis.

For maternal and child care, 33 health centres will be set up to address mental and physical health challenges in adolescent children in slum areas, along with special on-call counselling and help desks for pregnant women. Cochlear implant surgery will be initiated for children at the Seth AJB municipal ENT hospital in Fort.

Another scheme mentioned in the budget is house-to-house check-ups for all under the Arogya Seva Aaplya Dari.

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