CBGA flays Budget for not focusing on social sectors

City-based think tank says from 2004-05 to 2013-14 (BE), total spending on social services is set to rise from 1.2% of GDP to just 1.9%

As the Finance Ministry squeezed expenditure particularly plan outlay in the current financial year in the Union Budget for fiscal consolidation, the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) has attacked the exercise of the finance ministry for neglecting social sectors.

In its response to the Union Budget for 2013-14, the city-based think tank said from 2004-05 to 2013-14 (BE), the total spending on social services is projected to be going up from 1.2 per cent of GDP to just 1.9 per cent.

In the same period, the expenditure on social services had gone up from 7.9 per cent to 12.8 per cent of the total outlay.

It said the lack of adequate priority for social sectors in the Budget has translated into low priorities for a number of critical sectors. The budget for the Ministry of Human Resource Development was Rs 74,056 crore in 2012-13 (BE), but has fallen to Rs 66,819 crore in 2012-13 (RE), and it is pegged at Rs. 79451 crore in 2013-14 (BE),it said.

Likewise, the budget for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was Rs 34,388 crore in 2012-13 (BE), which has been reduced to Rs 29,273 crore in 2012-13 (RE) and it shows a small increase to Rs 37,330 crore in 2013-14 (BE), the CBGA said.

The Department of Rural Development had been allocated Rs 73,221.8 crore in 2012-13 (BE), which in 2013-14 (BE) has been increased marginally to Rs 74,477.6 crore, it said.

In fact, in constant prices, the allocation for the Department of Rural Development in 2013-14 would be less than the same last year.

With regard to Social Security schemes, the only concrete measure in Budget 2013-14 pertains to Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), which would be extended to a few other categories, the think tank said.

However, beyond a proposal for convergence among some of the existing schemes in this domain, the Finance Minister did not mention anything substantive with regard to social security schemes in his budget speech, CBGA said.

The allocation for National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) has been increased from Rs 8,382 crore in 2012-13 (BE) to Rs. 9,541 crore in 2013-14 (BE), but this small increase would be hardly able to ensure the improvements required in the coverage of beneficiaries or in the amounts of entitlements in various schemes, it said. These schemes under NSAP include the National Old Age Pension Scheme, Widow Pension Scheme and Disability Pension Scheme and National Maternity Benefit Scheme.