It was encouraging that the Finance Minister today opened the Union Budget speech by talking about India’s economic growth, which is expected to be at 7%, the highest among the major economies. It was reassuring as across the world, there are several nations standing at the brink of a slowdown.

India’s success in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, even as it put people first, and yet managed to minimise the economic impact, stands as a valuable lesson for generations to come; that populations are the bedrock of an economy. Further, the crisis underlined that a nation must ensure its healthcare ecosystem is not only robust, but resilient too.

In the present day, delivering healthcare and making ecosystems resilient require a fine balance between advanced medicine, cutting-edge technology, skilled resources and preventive healthcare. A country’s health infrastructure must enable its doctors to deliver best-in-class clinical outcomes. There must be continuous innovation to boost quality of medical education and a concerted focus on skilling for healthcare is vital. Finally, contemporary technologies should be harnessed to achieve these goals, bridge gaps and prepare for the future.

I believe the Budget announcements set the course towards most of these aspects that will have an impact in the near and longer-term too. In particular, a welcome one was the 157 new nursing colleges that would be established in collaboration with existing medical colleges.

Similarly, skilling youth for the manifold aspects of healthcare will create a valuable talent factory for India and the world. Several nations with a considerable silver population are grappling with an acute paucity of resources and exporting our talent. New multidisciplinary courses for medical devices, setting up of 5G labs and centres of excellence for Artificial Intelligence will ensure that India has the talent base to exploit the opportunities from futuristic medical technologies, as they arise.

Focus on medical research and innovation with select ICMR labs made available to the private sector for research and development (R&D) will encourage collaboration between biotech entrepreneurs and the government. These initiatives along with a new programme to promote research and innovation in the pharmaceutical industry highlights the Budget’s focus on technology in making strong strides towards a healthier and more prosperous India.

Above all, the fact of medicine is that the best way to beat disease, is to avert it. Therefore, similar to the thrust on the Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission announced today, it would be wonderful if many more of the non-communicable diseases are targeted to prevent millions of untimely fatalities.

The writer is Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals and past president, NATHEALTH

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The real money gaming industry — which runs games where users can stake money for winnings on apps — welcomed the Union Budget’s clarification on Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) for money won on their platforms. These platforms, referred to as “online gaming” by the government, are required to deduct 1% TDS from users when the latter withdraw their winnings and deposits.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government would be “removing the minimum threshold of ₹10,000 for TDS and clarifying taxability relating to online gaming.” This would allow real money gaming platforms to assess TDS on net earnings over the year instead of on individual transactions. “It is seen that deductors are deducting tax under Section 194 B and 194 BB of the Act by applying the threshold of ₹10,000 per transaction and avoiding tax deduction by splitting a winning into multiple transactions each below ₹10,000,” the government said in its memorandum explaining the Budget. “This is against the intention of legislature,” it emphasised.

‘Ambiguities cleared’

“It’s a progressive step as the government is creating a new section for the online gaming industry. It cements the recognition of online gaming as a distinct technology-driven entertainment sector,” Games24x7 Chief Financial Officer Rahul Tewari said in a statement. “[W]e will wait to get more clarity from the department on the computation mechanism.”

“[T]he government has cleared ambiguities regarding TDS calculation for online gaming and simplifies the process for both companies and users,” Vikash Sureka, the Mobile Premier League fantasy sports platform’s Chief Financial Officer, said in a separate statement.

“Since winnings in online gaming are given in both cash and in kind, it is important to note that even winnings paid in kind are taxable. And the obligation is on the gaming company to ensure that the winner pays the tax before the winning is given to him,” said Sanjay Tolia, tax leader at PwC.