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| Aam admi gets more talk, less allocation |
| BS Reporter / New Delhi Feb 16, 2009, 18:42 IST |
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In the education sector, the only area that has seen allocations go up substantially is higher education: from Rs 11,340 crore in the revised estimates for 2008-09 to Rs 13,179 crore in the Interim Budget--Rs 10,852 crore was the Budget estimate in 2008-09.
Primary education has seen funds returned unspent. Out of the 2008-09 allocation of Rs 27,850 crore for primary education, Rs 26,026 crore was spent. The Interim Budget allocation for primary education is Rs 28,799 crore.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will receive Rs 4,239 crore, which is slightly less than the estimate for 2008-09 of Rs 4,250 crore. Although the revised estimate in the current year is Rs 4659 crore, including the contributions from Prathmik Shiksha Kosh or the education cess, a total allocation of Rs 13,100 crore has been made for the programme. Similarly, the mid day meals scheme, which also draws funds from the education cess gets an allocation of Rs 8,000 crore in the Interim Budget for 2009-10.
The Interim Budget has formally launched the new drive to universalize secondary education with an allocation of Rs 210 crore for the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan.
On the health side, the integrated child development services, meant to stop malnutrition and mortality of children under six years gets Rs 6,705 crore which is marginally more than Rs 5,665 crore allocated in the current year in both revised and budget estimates.
The National Rural Health Mission under the Health Ministry gets Rs 12,070 crore in the Interim Budget with additional funds for setting up of institutions modeled after All India Institute of Medical Sciences and for providing teaching and training facilities in state government medical colleges.
The funds for this have increased from Rs 568 crore to Rs 647 crore.
The Interim Budget has announced two new schemes viz the Indira Gandhi Widow Pension Scheme to provide pension of Rs 200 to widows between age groups of 40 and 64 years and ‘Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme’ to provide pension for severely disabled persons.
Bharat Nirman, which provides the six fold social empowerment package to rural masses in the form of housing, drinking water, rural connectivity, telephony, electrification and irrigation got an allocation of Rs 40,900 crore in the Interim Budget. From 2005, when it was launched to 2009, the allocation to this programme has been increased by 261 per cent. The allocation for the programme in 2008-09 was Rs 31,280 crore.
The allocation for Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana which is part of the package has been increased from Rs 7,225 crore in the revised estimate of 2008-09 to Rs 9135 crore in the Interim Budget.
Similarly, the Indira Awas Yojana which is another component of Bharat Nirman got Rs 7,919 crore as the revised estimate in 2008-09 has been allocated Rs 7,920 crore in the Interim Budget.
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