Allocation of resources to social sector increasing, says Arun Jaitley

Various suggestions came about increasing allocation on education, healthcare sectors

Emphasising that inclusive growth is high on government's priority, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the allocation of resources to the social sector is increasing.

The government wants to make an extensive social welfare system with focus on better education system and effective healthcare especially for the children, women and senior citizens of the country, he said at pre-Budget consultations with the representatives of different Social Sector Groups here on Saturday.

As the allocation of resources to the Social Sector is increasing, the need of the hour is to bring substantial changes through better policies and timely implementation, he said, as per a Finance Ministry statement.

Jaitley further said that the inclusive growth is high on the priority and the Government will take adequate measures to ensure social security for all especially for the vulnerable section of society including the children, women and senior citizens of the country.

Most of the Social Sector representatives gave different suggestions to the Finance Minister for the forthcoming Union Budget 2017-18 including higher allocation to social sector schemes and a mechanism be established to monitor proper implementation of all such schemes.

It was suggested to monitor to ensure that the schools have access to safe drinking water & sanitation and allocation for healthcare for the workers especially those working in mining sector etc should be increased.

Various suggestions came about increasing allocation on education and healthcare sectors in the upcoming General Budget 2017-18.

It was also suggested that all the tobacco products should be highly taxed primarily because of health concerns.