New Delhi, Feb 1: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced 10,000 additional seats in medical colleges as well as daycare cancer centres in all district hospitals.

Presenting her eighth consecutive budget and the NDA government’s second full Union Budget of its third term, the Finance Minister said that India has seen remarkable growth in medical education in the last 10 years.

“10,000 additional seats to be added in medical colleges next year and 75,000 seats to be added in next five years,” she said.

“All district hospitals to have daycare cancer centres. About 200 daycare cancer centres will be established in 2025-26,” the FM said.

Further, “broadband connectivity to primary health centres will help in expanding telemedicine consultation for rural patients at village level”, she added.

In the last 10 years, medical colleges in the country have doubled to 780 in 2024-25 from just 387 in 2013-14 — a 102 per cent growth.

During the same period, the seats for MBBS also rose from 51,348 to 1,18,137 — a 130 per cent surge.

In the last budget, the government made custom duty exemptions and a reduction in GST rates on three anti-cancer medications.

The three anti-cancer drugs were Trastuzumab, Osimertinib and Durvalumab.

The government also slashed the GST rate from 12 per cent to 5 per cent on these three cancer medicines.

Cancer cases are rising significantly in India. According to a Lancet study, India registered about 12 lakh new cancer cases and 9.3 lakh deaths in 2019 — the second-highest contributor to the disease burden in Asia.

The number climbed to 13.9 lakh in 2020, which further soared to 14.2 lakh and 14.6 lakh in the years 2021 and 2022, respectively, the study showed.

New Delhi, Feb 1: Ahead of presenting the Union Budget in Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met President Droupadi Murmu in the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Saturday.

The President fed her ‘dahi-cheeni’, a ritual performed by elders in Indian families to bestow good luck before undertaking important tasks.

This year’s Budget is the eight consecutive Budget for Finance Minister Sitharaman and the Modi government’s 14th straight Budget.

Earlier in the day, FM Sitharaman and her team posed for a traditional picture outside the Finance Ministry. She wore an off-white coloured handloom silk saree with fish-themed embroidery and a golden border – a tribute to Madhubani Art. She wore a red blouse with the saree and displayed the red ‘bahi-khata’ tablet with the national emblem.

In 2019, FM Sitharaman broke the long-standing tradition of a Budget briefcase with a ‘bahi khata,’ a red-coloured Indian accounting ledger. In 2021, the Finance Minister presented the Budget in a paperless format, using a ‘Made in India’ tablet.

Nirmala Sitharaman, who surpassed the record of former Prime Minister and Finance Minister Morarji Desai last year, is set to present the Union Budget for 2025-26 in Parliament on Saturday.

Finance Minister Sitharaman will deliver the Budget speech in the Lok Sabha from 11 a.m. on Saturday.

The Budget Session of Parliament which commenced on Friday, will be conducted in two phases – the first started on January 31 and will conclude on February 13, while the second phase will begin on March 10 and end on April 4.

This year’s Union Budget is expected to maintain the government’s focus on promoting economic growth while ensuring equity.

The government is expected to prioritise improving the quality of life in rural areas to ensure equitable and inclusive development.

According to the Economic Survey 2024-25, financial inclusion is a key focus, with rural households and small businesses getting easier access to credit through microfinance institutions, self-help groups and other intermediaries.

Kolkata, Jan 31: West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose might take up the complaints of the parents of the victim in the R.G. Kar rape and murder case regarding the entire line of investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) with the office of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

A statement issued from the office of the Governor on Friday hinted at this.

The statement comes a day after the victim’s parents, on Thursday evening, went to Raj Bhavan in Kolkata and had a long meeting with the Governor.

“The parents expressed their plight and requested justice. They requested the Hon’ble Governor to present their petition to the Hon’ble President and Hon’ble Union Home Minister, to whom they have already submitted their petition. The Hon’ble Governor assured to take necessary action,” read the statement issued from the Governor’s office in the morning.

As per the statement, the Governor also assured the victim’s parents that they were not alone in this grief and that justice in the matter would be done.

The indication from the office of the Governor comes just a day after the state president of BJP in West Bengal and the Union Minister of State Sukanta Majumdar, on Thursday, gave a somewhat similar assurance on the matter.

Majumdar, on Thursday afternoon, went to the residence of the victim’s parents and had a long meeting with them.

During the meeting, the victim’s parents claimed to have explained to Majumdar why they were unhappy with the entire investigation by the CBI. They also explained why they are against the death penalty for the sole convict in the case, Sanjay Roy.

The victim’s parents reportedly highlighted the observations made by a special court in Kolkata on the lapses in investigation by the central agency.

Confirming this, Majumdar told media persons that the victim’s parents had pointed out certain observations by the special court.

Majumdar also said the victim’s parents had complaints against one particular investigating officer.

“They have updated me on the matter and I assured them of communicating their grievances to the appropriate authorities,” Majumdar said.