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

Government announces duty exemptions on life-saving drugs, expansion of medical education, and healthcare for gig workers in India.

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.