Budget 2009-10 gives special emphasis to the rural healthcare, raising allocation to this sector to Rs21,113.33 crore, up about Rs4,000 crore from last year.

The budget allocation for the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has been increased by Rs2,057 crore.

The NRHM was launched in 2005 to improve availability and access to quality healthcare for people living in remote areas.

The NHRM focuses on states that have weak public health infrastructure. These include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Orissa, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

The Budget also envisages strengthening the tertiary sector by setting up six All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-like institutions in the country and upgrading 13 existing medical colleges.

The AIIMS-like institutions are planned in Patna (Bihar), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Bhubaneswar (Orissa), Jodhpur (Rajasthan) and Rishikesh (Uttarakhand).