By Sumit Vohra
With the Central Government nearing the completion of its 5-year tenure and the Union Budget 2018 on the table, PM Modi try to add some Bhutan’s flavour to the Indian economy by introducing what they call Ease of Living following a popular move of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ which they introduced last year.
From basic amenities like electricity, water, housing and healthcare to luxurious plane travel, the government plans to make these services both accessible and affordable for the common man of India. With the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley delivering the 2018 budget on Thursday, he bought the following new schemes for the poor sections of the society.
Launch of an Indian Obamacare: ‘National Health Protection Scheme’
With around 63 million people in debt due to health care expenditure, the government tries to improve the situation with its launch of first Obamacare like scheme called ‘National Health Protection Scheme’. NHPS or the National Health Protection Scheme aims to provide health covers to almost 500 million Indian citizens. The mega health insurance scheme for the poor will cost a hefty amount of around ?1 lakh crore to the Indian economy but at the same time will give a major boost to the health-care sector as well as a major reduction in health-care oriented debts. NHPS will provide medical coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per year to 100 million families for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization and aims to expand further with time.
“This will be a big boost for us. The current insurance schemes were unviable, but with the increase in cover, I think we will see a growth in our state-sponsored scheme patients,” said Suneeta Reddy, MD, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise
Hawai yatra for ‘hawai-chappal wearing people’
To make flights cheaper for the common man of India, the Finance Minister announced a push to regional air connectivity scheme called ‘Udan’ . With an allocation of 1,014 crores, this scheme now aims to increase the airport capacity by 5 times and handle one billion yearly travellers. It will also connect 56 unserved airports, 37 unserved helipads and proposes that at least half the seats on every regional flight should have a fare cap of ? 2,500 per seat per hour of flying.
“Sarkar ki iss pahal se hawai chappal pehenne wale nagrik bhi hawai jahaj mein yatra kar rahe hain”, Arun Jaitley said in his speech.
Expansion of Ujjvala Yojana
The Pradhan Mantri Ujjvala Yojana which aims to provide cooking gas to rural areas also saw a major boost this budget. The Ujjvala scheme which the government started in May 2016 is already a major hit in the rural areas with over 30 million households getting access to cooking gas connections. The Finance Minister further expanded the ambit of this scheme to include 80 million poor families who will be given free cooking gas connections.
FM gifts more toilets to the country
Though the budget for the ‘Swatchh Bharat Mission’ was cut down for the first time in last 4 years from proposed ? 19,248 to ? 17,843 crores, the government plans to continue its mission of ‘Swatch Bharat’ by proposing to build 20 million more toilets and 188 lakh individual household latrines in the financial year 2018-19. The government also said it will ensure that every poor Indian has a house of their own by 2022.
“With so much inequality around, even the recognition of the fact that common people have a difficult living in this country is a welcome step. It is high time that the governments move from merely thinking in terms of growth rates to actual human development,” says Surinder S. Jodhka, Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Though everything looks good on paper, implementation is what governs the success of such ambitious schemes, all that can be done is to wait and watch.
Featured Image Source: pranshurathi on Visualhunt / CC BY
Stay updated with all the insights.
Navigate news, 1 email day.
Subscribe to Qrius
