As told to Parliament (March 28, 2023): India recorded three H3N2 deaths, 1,317 cases 

Some 1,317 cases of H3N2 infections and three deaths (one each from Haryana, Karnataka and Maharashtra) have been reported from January 1, 2023-March 21, 2023, Bharati Pravin Pawar, minister of state in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, told the Rajya Sabha.

Among the 510 cases of H3N2 reported over the last two months, 337 patients were admitted to the hospitals, Pawar said on March 28, 2023.

Emissions from power plants

In 2021-22, 0.9675 metric tonnes per megawatt-hour of carbon dioxide was generated by thermal power stations in India. Many plants have already adopted technologies to improve efficiency, RK Singh, minister for power, told the Rajya Sabha on March 28, 2023.

Renewable energy 

India has generated 1,359.97 billion units (BU) of electricity from all sources from 2022-23 (up to January 2023). Out of which, 316.75 BU have been generated from renewables, which has a share of 23.29 per cent in the total electricity generation in the country, Singh told the Rajya Sabha.

Nipah Virus

As of now, 91 cases of Nipah virus infections have been reported across the country, Pawar told the Rajya Sabha. The ministry has taken several steps to ensure effective control and prevention of the infection, Pawar added.

Investment in health 

The budget allocation for the Department of Health and Family Welfare has increased by 82 per cent, from Rs 47,353 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 86,175 crore in 2023-24, Pawar told Rajya Sabha. The 15th Finance Commission has provided a grant of Rs 70,051 crore for health through local governments, the minister said.

Ayushman Bharat

Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is the world’s largest publicly funded health protection scheme, providing health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year, Pawar told Rajya Sabha. The scheme provides secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to 600 million beneficiaries.

Many states/ Union Territories implementing AB-PMJAY have expanded the beneficiary base to approximately 155 million families at their own cost. As on March 20, 2023, 233 million beneficiaries have been verified under the scheme.

Over 44.9 million hospital admissions, costing Rs 54,224 crore, have been authorised through a network of 26,434 empanelled healthcare providers, including 11,500 private hospitals. About 40,000 hospital admissions are authorised under the scheme every day, Pawar claimed.

Registered doctors 

Some 1,308,009 allopathic doctors are registered with state medical councils and the National Medical Commission (NMC) as of June 2022, Pawar told Rajya Sabha, citing data from NMC.

Assuming the availability of 80 per cent registered allopathic doctors and 0.565 million AYUSH doctors, the doctor-population ratio in the country is 1:834, Pawar said.

Organic farming

Under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), farmers from across the country are provided financial assistance of Rs 50,000 per hectare (ha) for three years. Of which, Rs 31,000/ha is provided directly to farmers for organic inputs, Narendra Singh Tomar, minister of agriculture and farmers welfare, told the Lok Sabha.

Since 2015-16, under PKVY, 1.185 million ha has been covered under organic farming by developing 32,384 clusters involving 1.619 million farmers. In addition, eight states developed their own brands for organic products. So far, Rs 1,793.80 crore has been released under the scheme, Tomar said.

Allocation for MGNREGS

An amount of Rs 60,000 crore has been allocated for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) in Budget Estimate 2023-24, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, minister of state in the Ministry of Rural Development, told the Lok Sabha.

During the financial year 2021-22, 12.2 million new job cards were issued under the scheme, the minister added.

Agriculture Census

Agriculture Census in India is conducted at an interval of five years to collect information on the structure of operational holdings in the country and monitor changes that occur over time. So far, 10 such censuses have been conducted, and the one conducted in 2015-16 is the latest in the series.

The total number of operational holders has increased from 138.35 million in 2010-11 to 146.45 million in 2015-16 — an increase of 5.86 per cent, Tomar said, citing Agriculture Census 2015-16.

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