THE POOR AND THE UNDERPRIVILEGED in Budget 2017 - 2018
- Mahila Shakti Kendra will be set up with an allocation of ` 500 crores in 14 lakh ICDS Anganwadi Centres. This will provide one stop convergent support services for empowering rural women with opportunities for skill development, employment, digital literacy, health and nutrition
- Under Maternity Benefit Scheme ` 6,000 each will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of pregnant women who undergo institutional delivery and vaccinate their children
- Affordable housing to be given infrastructure status
- National Housing Bank will refinance individual housing loans of about` 20,000 crore in 2017-18
- Government has prepared an action plan to eliminate Kala-Azar and Filariasis by 2017, Leprosy by 2018, Measles by 2020 and Tuberculosis by 2025 is also targeted
- Action plan has been prepared to reduce IMR from 39 in 2014 to 28 by 2019 and MMR from 167 in 2011-13 to 100 by 2018-2020
- To create additional 5,000 Post Graduate seats per annum to ensure adequate availability of specialist doctors to strengthen Secondary and Tertiary levels of health care
- Two new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences to be set up in Jharkhand and Gujarat
- To foster a conducive labour environment, legislative reforms will be undertaken to simplify, rationalise and amalgamate the existing labour laws into 4 Codes on (i) wages; (ii) industrial relations; (iii) social security and welfare; and (iv) safety and working conditions.
- Propose to amend the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules to ensure availability of drugs at reasonable prices and promote use of generic medicines
- The allocation for Scheduled Castes has been increased by 35% compared to BE 2016-17. The allocation for Scheduled Tribes has been increased to 31,920 crores and for Minority Affairs to ` 4,195 crores
- For senior citizens, Aadhar based Smart Cards containing their health details will be introduced
