PANAJI
Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Thursday parried concerns raised over a drastic reduction in the overall budget of the health ministry for 2024-25 saying it will not matter for functioning of the public health sector and delivery of healthcare.
“Kaich zaina. Kaich farak podchona (Nothing happens. It will make no difference),” Rane said to repeated reference to a nearly 20 per cent cut in the budget for health as compared to last year by Fatorda MLA, Vijai Sardesai and also the Leader of the Opposition, Yuri Alemao.
Rane was replying to the debate on the demands for grants pertaining to the health ministry for the current financial year, which were later passed by the Goa legislative assembly by a voice-vote.
Earlier during the discussion, both Alemao and Sardesai, had raised serious questions over the slashing of the budget allocations for health and had taunted the minister by seeking to know whether it had anything to do with the political chasm between him and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who holds the finance ministry portfolio.
The Alemao-Sardesai duo’s taunting even provoked Sawant to interject during Rane’s reply speech to say that there is no politics (rajkaran) whatsoever involved in it.
“Let me tell you that not a single proposal of the health ministry has ever got stuck for finance reasons,” Sawant said, adding that in addition to the budget outlay for health, there were separate allocations for infrastructure work under PWD and other departments meant for the Health department.
Rane then seconded the CM’s remarks, saying that he often holds discussions (charcha) with the Chief Minister and gets cooperation on all proposals of the Health department.
Earlier, Sardesai in his intervention during the discussion on the health demand had claimed that the budget for health services was slashed to Rs 83,847 crore as against Rs 1,045.64 crore last year, a nearly 20 per cent drop.
Alemao on the other hand had said that the “Finance Ministry under Sawant had put the Health Ministry under Rane on a starvation diet.”
Unfazed, however, Rane went about his reply to the discussion promising the legislators that all issues raised by them related to health infrastructure in their respective constituencies will be dealt with by him in consultations with each of them.
‘Cancer hospital completion in 18 months’
At the State level, Rane said the cancer hospital at the Goa Medical College complex currently under construction will be completed in 18 months and an Oncology OPD will also be started very soon.
Rane also promised to pay attention to both the district hospitals at Mapusa and in Margao where members had highlighted various shortfalls in services during the discussion.
He said, there was need to overcome the shortage of doctors and technical staff to operate certain equipment in the public health sector by outsourcing certain services.
Rane also said the government has plans to set up a Centre of Excellence by resorting to the hub-and-spoke model and addressing the shortage of doctors and technical staff through outsourcing.
Poor health facilities in rural areas flayed
Earlier during the discussion, MLAs from the Opposition hit out at the government for pathetic conditions of rural health centres and the lack of basic medical equipment there.
