AYUSH Ministry allocation in Budget increased by 13 percent

NEW DELHI: The Union government proposed in the Union Budget to increase the outlay for AYUSH Ministry by more than 13 percent to Rs 1,626.37 crore.

The allocation to the ministry in the previous Budget was nearly Rs 1,429 crore.

The total expenditure on central sector schemes and projects carried out by the ministry has been estimated at Rs 71.36 crore. For the year, 2017-18, it was Rs 68.86 crore, however in the revised Budget for last fiscal, it was increased to Rs 87.64 crore.

The allocation has been increased for statutory and regulatory bodies - Central Council of Homoeopathy and Central Council of Indian Medicine in New Delhi, and autonomous bodies - such as All India Institute of Ayurveda, Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata - under the ministry.

For statutory and regulatory bodies, the outlay is Rs 9.60 crore vis-a-vis Rs 7.99 crore in the last fiscal; while for autonomous bodies, it is Rs 906.70 crore compared to Rs 804.30 crore in the previous budget.

Under medical and public health head, the budget has been increased to Rs 1,041.14 crore compared to Rs 914.85 in the last fiscal.

The AYUSH Ministry is purposed with developing, education and research in Ayurveda, Yoga, and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy.