“Our government will facilitate setting up of Day Care Cancer Centres in all district hospitals in the next 3 years. 200 Centres will be established in 2025-26,” she said.
Healthcare for gig workers
Recognising the growing gig economy, the Central government will provide healthcare coverage under the PM Jan Aarogya Yojana (PM-JAY) for gig workers.
This move is expected to benefit nearly 1 crore gig workers, ensuring they have access to affordable healthcare services, a critical support for this emerging workforce.
Expansion of medical education seats
In a bid to strengthen the healthcare workforce, the government plans to add 10,000 additional seats in medical colleges and hospitals in the coming year.
This is part of an ambitious goal to increase medical education capacity by 75,000 seats over the next five years. Sitharaman highlighted that the government has already added 1.1 lakh undergraduate and postgraduate medical education seats over the past decade, marking a 130% increase.
“In the next year, 10,000 additional seats will be added in medical colleges and hospitals towards the goal of adding 75,000 seats in the next five years,” the now two-time Union Finance Minister said.
Broadband connectivity
Further enhancing healthcare and education infrastructure, Sitharaman also announced plans to provide broadband connectivity to all government secondary schools and primary healthcare centres across the country, ensuring better access to digital resources and healthcare services, especially in rural areas.
These initiatives reflect the government’s commitment to improving healthcare access, supporting gig workers, and expanding medical education to meet the nation’s growing healthcare needs.
