The government seems to have prioritized meeting its fiscal deficit targets rather than using this opportunity to signal the path to employment-centric and inclusive growth.
India continues to rank poorly in various global indices that reflect the quality of life, human capital or human development in the country, such as the Human Development Index (ranked 131 out of 189 countries) and the Global Hunger Index (ranked 101 out of 116 countries). ). It is well documented that the pandemic has had a severe impact on the health, education and food security of poor and informal sector workers over the past two years. Several recent reports, including Oxfam’s ‘Inequality Kills’ report and the ICE360 survey, establish well that the economic growth in India is recovery-shaped, meaning that the incomes of the poorer sections of the society are falling, while those The number of wealthy classes is increasing. As many have argued, while this trend has been accelerated by the pandemic, the country has been experiencing increasing inequality over the past few decades. In addition, the period after 2016 has also seen stagnant real wages and rising unemployment.
a conservative approach
In this context, it was expected that the current budget would see an expansion in government spending on the social sector. Higher spending on the social sector can contribute to improving human development outcomes, provide a cushion to people during the current economic crisis and can also contribute to boosting demand for private consumption which in turn has a positive impact on the economy. The multiplier can have an effect. However, despite the current state of demand crisis, the Budget has taken a conservative approach and appears to be meeting its fiscal deficit targets rather than using this opportunity to signal the path to employment-centric and inclusive growth. has been given priority.
a complete disconnect
While it acknowledged that prolonged school closures have affected children’s education, the government announced that it would expand its ‘one class, one TV channel’ scheme instead of announcing increased allocation for schools. So that they can open again with vigor. This reveals a complete disconnect from the ground situation where there is a need to upgrade the school infrastructure, teacher vacancies need to be filled and efforts need to be made to bring back the children who have dropped out and There are also huge losses for learning.
This is also reflected in lower spending in the last two years as seen in the Revised Estimates (RE). The budget of ₹63,449 crore for school education is a slight improvement over last year’s ₹54,873 crore (2021-22 BE, BE) and a 6% increase in marginal terms over the 2020-21 budget estimate of ₹59,845 crore Is. Following a grand announcement to re-name the school’s mid-day meal scheme as Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman, simply called PM Poshan, the allocation for the scheme has come down from ₹11,500 crore last year to ₹10,233 this year. crore has become.
Amid a pandemic, and despite repeated statements about strengthening the public health system, the health and family welfare department’s total budget of ₹83,000 crore is only 16% and less than the 2021-22 budget estimate. has gone. Over ₹1,000 crore as compared to the RE of 2021-22, which is ₹82,921 crore. However, the inclusion of water and sanitation in the budget for health has shown an increase in health spending as a proportion of GDP. While spending on the drinking water mission is also extremely important, it cannot be clubbed with the health budget for sustainability. Further, even though the budget for Jal Jeevan Mission has increased from ₹50,000 crore to ₹60,000 crore, only 44% of the funds allocated to the Department of Water and Sanitation for 2021-22 have been spent by the end of December 2021.
During the pandemic period, the Public Distribution System has been the lifeline for many people, though currently only 60% of the population is covered by ration cards under the National Food Security Act. Those who were eligible benefited from the additional free food grains given under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY). However, food subsidy (BE) of Rs 2.06 lakh crore for 2022-23 alone is sufficient to cover regular NFSA entitlements. Indications are that there are no plans to expand PMGKAY. The food subsidy RE for 2021-22 is Rs 2.86 lakh crore.
The budget for important schemes like Saksham Anganwadi, Maternity Rights and Social Security Pension is the same as last year’s allocation. The allocation of ₹73,000 crore for MGNREGA also does not reflect increased demand for work or pending wages of ₹21,000 crore.
continuing carelessness
Overall, the social sector has been betrayed once again in the Budget for 2022-23, which is perhaps the time when it needs support the most. As seen above, the resources allocated to important government schemes in the areas of health, education, nutrition and social security have remained stagnant or show negligible growth. In fact, the budget for these schemes has been declining in real terms since 2015. India has already started from a vulnerable position of spending very little in the vital areas of social security, education and health. For example, the World Social Security Report 2020-22 brought out by the International Labor Organization shows that spending on social security (excluding health) in India accounts for 1.4% of GDP, compared to low-middle income countries. The average is 2.5%. The budget on health and education has also been meager, well below the desirable levels of 3% and 6% of GDP. This continued negligence does not bode well for inclusive growth in India.
Deepa Sinha is a Faculty at Dr. BR Ambedkar University Delhi
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