What Was The Budgetary Allocations Of Social Schemes In A Decade-Long Modi Government (Photo @Pixabay)
As the Prime Minister Modi-led NDA government’s first Budget in its third term is all set to be presented on July 23 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, this article looks into the budgetary allocations of the last ten years of the Union government for the social schemes. The article explores the allocations under various social schemes including the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and National Health Mission (NHM).
MGNREGA scheme, which provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household, has been hit the worst during the last ten year. The Budgetary allocation for the scheme which was started in 2006, declined from 1.85% in FY 2014-15 to 1.33% in FY 2023-24. Making the allocation lowest since its introduction, the millions of marginalised people were adversely affected. Despite there were protests, the government remained unchanged in its approach towards the programme.
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The National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), introduced in 1995, also declined it its Budgetary allocations. The allocation for the NSAP has decreased from 0.58% in FY 2014-2015 to a mere 0.21% in the 2023-24 Budget. The NSAP, which provides social assistance benefits to poor households, has remained unchanged Since 2007 despite the surging cost of living.
Other social schemes such as the National Food Security Act (NFSA), and Mid-Day-Meal Scheme, renamed as PM Poshan, have also witnessed a reduced share of allocation in the budget. The Budgetary allocation of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), rebranded as Anganwadi Services in 2018 and merged into Saksham Anganwadi & POSHAN 2.0 in FY 2021-22, also plummeted over the years.
The allocations in the total budget for the aggregate schemes under Saksham Anganwadi & POSHAN 2.0 (ICDS/Anganwadi Services, National Nutrition Mission, National Creche Scheme and Scheme for Adolescent Girls/SABLA) decreased from 1.08% of the total Budget in FY 2014-15 to 0.45% in FY 2023-24. The subsequent Budgets, thus, showed a declining priority of the regime towards the social schemes.
In addition to the declining Budgetary allocation, the actual expenditure over the past decades was consistently lower than the Budget, according to a report by The Wire.
