Only 1% of funds spent by Urban Mission this fiscal

The state public health department has spent less than 50% of the budgetary allocation.

Mumbai: “During 2021-22, Maharashtra was the worst-affected state in terms of Covid... Increased spending on health sector should have been the topmost priority of Maharashtra government,” said the JAA document released on Friday. There has been “constricted” spending in almost every aspect of health – from buying essential medicines to spending on rural healthcare.

JAA found even the medical education department, which operates most of the teaching colleges in the state, has spent 49.7% of its annual budget. The medical education department’s budget allocation for 2021-22 is Rs 5,727 crore.