2 minutes of readingPuneUpdated: February 2, 2026 10:19 pm IST
The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) (People’s Health Movement – India) has expressed dismay over the Union Budget 2026-27 for its continued neglect of the health sector.
“This budget It lacks a general political direction aimed at improving the health of the population. The current government thinks that health is just about treatments for diseases and has made some adjustments to some of the disease-based programs. There is no desire to address some of the structural problems, such as the lack of investment in the health system. There is no emphasis on strengthening primary health care. “No intention has been expressed to create a universal healthcare system,” an official statement released by JSA said on Monday.
“Allocations for health remain inadequate, at only 2% of the total budget, with lower transfers to states and lower priority for the National Health Mission. The 2017 National Health Policy had committed to “increase government health spending as a percentage of GDP, from 1.15% currently to 2.5% by 2025.”
Within this, the Centre’s share should have reached 1% of the GDP this year. However, this year’s Union health budget represents just 0.27% of GDP, just about a quarter of the level expected under the government’s own policy. In the last five years, the Union government’s expenditure on health has remained below 0.3% of GDP,” the statement said.
Activists said the Union government’s spending on health as a percentage of GDP, which increased moderately during the COVID pandemic, has declined post-pandemic.
“Union government’s allocation for health in 2026-27 Union Budget It was 1.3% less than what was actually spent in 2020-21, if we take into account the effect of price increases. This also means that as a percentage of GDP, the Union government’s allocation to health has fallen sharply from 0.37% (actual expenditure 2020-21) to 0.27% (budget 2026-27). The proportion of health budget in the total budget of the Union government has decreased from 2.26% to 2.07% in this period,” the JSA statement added.