Pakistani Reaction On India’s Budget 2024: In a YouTube video, Real Entertainment TV shares different Pakistani reactions over the Union Budget 2024 announced by India recently. The video would give interesting insights from across the border, in which talks have gone on regarding healthcare allocations by India and medicine prices as a consequence of the budget.
Main Highlights of the Budget
The Union Health Budget increased to Rs 90,638.63 crore with an increase of 12.59% over the budget estimate of 2023-24, said India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Union Budget 2024. The Department of Health and Family Welfare will receive Rs 87,656.90 crore and the Department of Health Research is pegged at Rs 3,301.73 crore. One such major step in this regard is the exemption of customs duties on three more medicines used for treating cancer. This effort is being made in an endeavor to reduce the cost burden on patients.
Pakistani Perspectives on India’s Healthcare Initiatives
The video captures a range of Pakistani opinion on these developments. One pharmacist from Azad Kashmir was skeptical that India’s budgetary measures would help lower the prices of medicines. He said there was already a 2.5% tax on medicines and wondered if the new budget would actually reduce prices or simply burden others.
Another respondent, Hamza, operating a pharmacy, was quite frustrated about the prices of medicines in Pakistan. He commented that while in India the budget allocation for health was quite substantial, in Pakistan the medicine prices have not dropped as expected; moreover, the government-run hospitals are inefficient and lack enough supplies. All in all, he expressed a general feeling that something is going wrong with healthcare reforms. He added that “Humari Government kuch nhi dekh rhi, ye bus itna dekh rhi hai ki hume apni aaiyashi kaise poori karni hai. vo aapko bhed bakri samjhti hai or aap bane hue ho.”
Concerns on Pricing and Service Quality
One of the recurring themes in the video is the budget announcement vs. on-ground realities. Subhan, a patient, condemned that despite India’s raised budget for the medical sector, there are no evident changes in improving the affordability of the medicine. He also added that better services and facilities were required. The quality of health services in Pakistan often stands in complete contrast to the shouting slogans of the ruling governments.
Reflections on Financial Management and Governance
The discussions, at large, reflect an angst over the financial management and governance in Pakistan. While deploring dependence on foreign loans and loans from multilateral agencies, the participants faulted the local administration for failure to take effective action on redressing precipitous issues in the health sector. Placing the ambitious budgetary measures rolled out for India against continuing malaise in Pakistan puts the sense into a feeling of lost opportunities and unmet expectations.
Though at face value, the 2024 budget of India does come off as ambitious and full of good promises, the reactions from Pakistan seem to hold a very critical view regarding how these money allocations are actually impacting real-world scenarios. At best, the reactions that come in from across the border show the complexities inherent in funding healthcare and the correct implementation needed to fructify certain budgetary promises for the real benefits of people at large.