Delhi government on February 26 announced an allocation of Rs 7,485 crore for the health sector in its budget, with Rs 588 crore being proposed for construction of new hospitals and re-modelling of existing ones.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia presented a Rs 60,000 crore budget for 2019-20 in Delhi Assembly laying emphasis on the education, health and transport sectors. "I propose a total outlay of Rs 7,485 crore on the health sector for 2019-20. This includes revenue budget of Rs 6,462 crore and capital budget of Rs 1,023 crore. An amount of Rs 3,737 crore is earmarked for implementation of various schemes, programmes and projects under the health sector," Sisodia said.

He said the Drugs Control Department has adopted a "zero-tolerance" approach towards pharmaceutical drug abuse and taken stringent action against defaulters. "The department has cancelled or suspended 386 drug licenses of manufacturing units and sales premises till December 2018, who were found violating norms," he said.

The proposed outlay of Rs 3,737 crore in 2019-20 for various projects is 45.07 per cent higher than the revised estimates of Rs 2,576 crore in the health sector in 2018-19, he said. The budget also said 189 Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics have been set up and 333 more such clinics will be set up by the end of June 2019.

About 40 lakh persons have availed health services at 'Mohalla Clinics' in the current financial year up to December 2018, Sisodia said. "Our target is to set up 1,000 'mohalla clinics'. Similarly, 25 polyclinics are in operation and 94 more dispensaries are being remodelled to start polyclinics to provide specialised health care to citizens. An outlay of Rs 375 crore is proposed for 'mohalla clinics' and Polyclinics in 2019-20," Sisodoa said.

An outlay of Rs 588 crore has also been proposed for construction of new hospitals and re-modelling of existing Delhi government hospitals, the deputy chief minister said. "To enhance the total bed strength from 10,000 beds to 20,000 in hospitals, the work on construction of a 600-bed hospital at Ambedkar Nagar and an 800-bed hospital at Burari, will be completed shortly.

The construction of a 1,241-bed hospital at Dwarka is at an advance stage," according to the budget. Projects for remodelling of existing hospitals - RTRM Hospital, Acharya Shree Bhikshu Hospital, Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital, Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, Dr Baba Sahib Ambedkar Hospital and Guru Govind Singh Hospital, and other facilities, at a cost of Rs 963 crore have been sanctioned, Sisodia pointed out.

This expansion and remodelling of existing hospitals will add 2,601 new beds, he added. The city government has ensured availability of free medicines to patients visiting dispensaries and government hospitals. Around 20 lakh patients get benefitted every month from this scheme, he said.

"Delhi government launched the scheme for medical treatment of road accident victims and fire burn victims. Total expenses incurred on such treatment are being borne by the Delhi government. More than 3,000 such victims have been treated under this scheme, Sisodia said.

He observed that good samaritans who help road traffic accident victims to reach hospitals for medical care are given a financial incentive of Rs 2,000 along with a certificate of appreciation. He said an outlay of Rs 2 crore is proposed for this scheme in 2019-20.

Under the scheme of conducting high-end radiology test - MRI, CT Scan, ultrasound, at private centres, an outlay of Rs 49 crore is proposed in 2019-20, the budget said. Radiological diagnostic services for 11 tests are being provided to people at 23 empanelled diagnostic centres on referral from city government health centres.

Similarly, free services for 52 kind of surgeries are also being provided at 48 empanelled hospitals after due referral of the patients from city-run hospitals, he said. Services of First Responder Vehicle (FRV) on motorcycle manned by trained manpower and equipped with mobile data terminal/GPS devices has been started in East Delhi to reach inside narrow streets of congested areas within shortest possible time.

Construction on phase-II of the Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences will be completed by March 2019 which will add 25 new beds at the institute. Two new courses -- Dental Hygiene and Diploma Course for two years and Dental Operation Room Assistant certificate course for one year, are also proposed to be started, the budget said.