The Central government has released the health sector grant of ₹8,453.92 crore for rural and urban local bodies of 19 States in line with the recommendations of the XV Finance Commission.
However, the name of Telangana did not figure in the list of States that received the grant released by the Department of Expenditure of the Union Finance Ministry.
The grant formed part of the XV Finance Commission recommendation for releasing ₹4.27 lakh crore to local governments for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26 and this included health grant of ₹70,051 crore — ₹43,928 crore for rural local bodies and ₹26,123 crore for urban local bodies.
The grant, according to the Union Ministry, is meant to strengthen the health system and plug critical gaps mainly at primary healthcare level. The Finance panel identified interventions that would directly lead to strengthening the primary health infrastructure in rural and urban areas.
The Ministry said that grant recommended to be released in the current financial year was ₹13,192 crore – ₹8,273 crore for rural local bodies and ₹4,919 crore for urban local bodies.
The Ministry said in a release that health grant to the remaining nine States (including Telangana) would be released after their proposals were received from the respective States through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
