The Union budget 2021 claimed a 137 percent increase in health and well being. However, the Union health budget still remains at about 0.34% of GDP – a slight increase from 0.31% last year’s budget estimate.

The biggest scheme introduced in the past few years is the Ayushman Bharat scheme. In February 2020, the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman slashed the budget from Rs 6,400 crore to Rs 3,314 crore for the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. Also known as Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY), this scheme was rolled out to cover a population of about 50 crores. However, this scheme though has been underutilised and has not made health more accessible to people.

With the unprecedented COVID-19 situation globally, India is also struggling with the health-related human resources of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers. And, it’s important to understand the economic approach to handling the inequalities in the healthcare sector in the country.

To know more about the role of health economics in the country and health budgeting, Kunika Balhotra, Suno India’s Research and communications Officer spoke to Dipa Sinha.

Dipa is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the School of Liberal Studies, Ambedkar University, Delhi (AUD). Before joining AUD, she worked with the Office of Commissioners to the Supreme Court, Centre for Equity Studies and Public Health Research Network, and is actively involved with the Right to Food Campaign.

The Union budget 2021 claimed a 137 percent increase in health and well being. However, the Union health budget still remains at about 0.34% of GDP &ndash; a slight increase from 0.31% last year&rsquo;s budget estimate.
The biggest scheme introduced in the past few years is the Ayushman Bharat scheme. In February 2020, the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman slashed the budget from Rs 6,400 crore to Rs 3,314 crore for the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. Also known as Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY), this scheme was rolled out to cover a population of about 50 crores. However, this scheme though has been underutilised and has not made health more accessible to people.
With the unprecedented COVID-19 situation globally, India is also struggling with the health-related human resources of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers. And, it&rsquo;s important to understand the economic approach to handling the inequalities in the healthcare sector in the country.
To know more about the role of health economics in the country and health budgeting,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/BalhotraKunika">Kunika Balhotra</a>, Suno India&rsquo;s Research and communications Officer spoke to&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/sinhadipa">Dipa Sinha</a>.
Dipa is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the&nbsp;<a href="https://sls.aud.ac.in/">School of Liberal Studies</a>, Ambedkar University, Delhi (AUD). Before joining AUD, she worked with the Office of Commissioners to the Supreme Court, Centre for Equity Studies and Public Health Research Network, and is actively involved with the Right to Food Campaign.

Every few months we read statistics related to the economy in the news. Whether it is about government claims of the economy growing, or job losses, industries suffering, the economy is on our minds 

But how much do we understand about it? What factors affect economic growth? And how are we affected by it? To understand how the larger principles of the Indian economy affects us, we at Suno India are bringing in a new series called Indian Economy Explained. 

In the “Indian Economy Explained” series host Kunika Balhotra will bring insightful discussions with reputed economists, researchers, professors and people working in the financial and developmental sector to understand broad principles about our economy and help contextualise the tumultuous times we live in.

Every few months we read statistics related to the economy in the news. Whether it is about government claims of the economy growing, or job losses, industries suffering, the economy is on our minds&nbsp;
But how much do we understand about it? What factors affect economic growth? And how are we affected by it? To understand how the larger principles of the Indian economy affects us, we at Suno India are bringing in a new series called Indian Economy Explained.&nbsp;
In the &ldquo;Indian Economy Explained&rdquo; series host Kunika Balhotra will bring insightful discussions with reputed economists, researchers, professors and people working in the financial and developmental sector to understand broad principles about our economy and help contextualise the tumultuous times we live in.

Indian Economy Explained

The economy of India is characterised as a middle income developing market economy. It is the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).  An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services by different agents. 

To understand all these aspects and the issues like GDP and economic slowdown, role of MSMEs, women participation in economy and many more tune into our latest series Indian Economy Explained.

This series features insightful discussions with reputed economists, researchers, professors and people working in the financial sector.

The economy of India is characterised as a middle income developing market economy. It is the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).&nbsp; An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services by different agents.&nbsp;
To understand all these aspects and the issues like GDP and economic slowdown, role of MSMEs, women participation in economy and many more tune into our latest series Indian Economy Explained.
This series features insightful discussions with reputed economists, researchers, professors and people working in the financial sector.

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