Budget good effort at ensuring inclusive growth: Prathap Reddy

Apollo Hospitals Chairman Prathap Reddy said on Friday the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had made a good effort at ensuring inclusive growth.

"The Union Budget for 2010 makes a good effort at ensuring inclusive growth and we congratulate the Finance Minister for making a commendable presentation", he said in a release.

The broad objective of keeping the positive momentum going on even while attempting to balance out the fiscal deficit seems to be on target, he said.

While the overall Budget is commendable, healthcare was touched upon in the plan allocation for health and family welfare increase pegged at Rs 22,300 crore, up from Rs 19.534 crore, he said.

On the skill development programme, he said the direct health skills gain would exceed 2.5 million per annum, provided one augmented the right environment to encourage health skills by way of education, training and development.

He said expansion of the service tax net to include health check-ups for employees of business entities and for health services provided under health insurance schemes offered by insurance companies might not be advantageous in ensuring better access to health care for the common man.