Budget 2025: Gig workers to get healthcare under PM Jan Arogya Yojana

Gig workers will now be provided healthcare under PM Jan Arogya Yojana as per the union budget announcement by the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman Union Minister on Saturday (February 1, 2025).

She also announced that to provide relief to patients, particularly those suffering from cancer, rare diseases, and other severe chronic diseases, 36 life-saving drugs and medicines are proposed to be added to the list of medicines fully exempted from basic customs duty (BCD).

Also read: Union Budget 2025 LIVE updates

Six life-saving medicines are also proposed to be added to the list attracting concessional customs duty of 5%. The government will also facilitate setting upof day care cancer centers in all district hospitals in the next three years. 

“Two hundred centers will be established in 2025-26 itself,” the Minister in her speech.

Speaking about expansion of medical education the Minister noted that the Central Government has added almost 1.1 lakh undergraduate and post-graduate medical education seats in 10 years, an increase of 130%. 

Now in the next year, 10,000 additional seats will be added in medical colleges and hospitals towards the goal of adding 75,000 medical education seats in the next five years.

Medical tourism and healing in India will be promoted along with the private sector, including easier visa norms the Minister said in her speech. 

Reacting to the budget announcement of including gig workforces under the government assurance scheme, Yogesh Agarwal, CEO and Founder at Onsurity said that the move is a crucial step toward ensuring financial and health security for millions of independent workers in India.

Adds Mandeep Singh Malhotra, director of Surgical Oncology at CK Birla Hospital, Delhi the Finance Minister’s proposal to establish daycare centers across India, either by upgrading civil hospitals or peripheral health centres to provide chemotherapy, is a significant step.

He said that cancer statistics indicate that for a majority of these cases, first-line chemotherapy can be effectively administered at well-equipped daycare centers with proper training and support. 

“This approach will help manage a substantial portion of the country’s cancer load,” he said.

Behram Khodaiji, CEO of Ruby Hall Clinic welcomed the budget and said that this is a step to strengthen India’s healthcare system, particularly in cancer care and affordability of life-saving treatments.

“The exemption of basic customs duty on 36 life-saving drugs and concessional rates on six more is a crucial step in reducing treatment costs for patients battling cancer, rare diseases, and chronic illnesses,” he said.

He added that additionally, waiving customs duty on medicines provided through patient assistance programs is a progressive move, expanding access to essential drugs for those in financial distress. 

With 37 new medicines and 13 more patient assistance programs added, this initiative will significantly benefit underprivileged patients. “However, it is vital to ensure transparency and efficiency in the implementation of these programs so that the support reaches those who need it most,” he said.