ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the growth and pattern of public expenditure on health in Punjab. It analyses the non-functional and dismal performance of rural health services. The Union Government played a dominant role in financing Punjab’s planned health expenditure and, consequently, in health policy matters. An assessment of sectoral allocation of public expenditure in Punjab is necessary, as the health sector has to compete with other development and non-development services. Theoretically, the intra-sectoral allocations within the health sector are of paramount importance. Investment in rural health infrastructure, thus, has emerged as the natural priority of Punjab. Since 1991, no expansion of health infrastructure has been made by the state government, both in urban as well as in rural areas. At the micro level, the utilisation pattern of health services in rural Punjab, based on a primary survey of 18 villages of the Patiala district by Singh, revealed many interesting facts.
