Funds need to be targeted better

ECONOMIC SURVEY 2003-04/ SOCIAL SECTOR ISSUES

According to the Economic Survey for 2003-04, a study of the public distribution system suggests that only 25 per cent of foodgrain actually reach the poorest 40 per cent of the population, while administrative costs account for 85 per cent of the total expenditure outweighing the gains to the poor.

The survey says while the Plan and non-Plan expenditure of the Centre on social services such as education, health, family welfare, water supply and rural development have more than doubled from Rs 11,631 crore in 1995-96 to Rs 35,478 crore in 2003-04, it has not been enough.

It says there has been a continuous decline in expenditure on the social sector as a share of total expenditure since 2000-01, slipping from 21 per cent in 2001-02 to 19.8 per cent in 2003-04.

Criticising the existing poverty alleviation programmes, the Survey has said evaluations done by the government and others have concluded that the programmes are not very effective in reducing poverty.

"They suffer from ill-defined and multiple objectives, limited targeting, under-funding, complex administration, high administration costs and leakage, lack of proper accountability and adequate monitoring," it says.

Expressing concern over the decline in total expenditure of the government on social services since 2001, the Survey says the country needs to 'reformulate an anti-poverty strategy' to create an enabling environment for the poor to participate in and benefit from the growth process.

"India needs to reformulate an anti-poverty strategy that is fiscally sustainable and more finely targeted to those who cannot benefit from the opportunities offered by growth. Safety nets should focus on those who either cannot participate in the growth process or face continuing exposure to risks," the survey adds.

The survey says the objective of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the United Progressive Alliance to increase public spending in education and health to six per cent and 2-3 per cent of the GDP, respectively, will go a long way in addressing the problems of the social sector, but adds that close monitoring of the outcome should be made consistent with higher outlay.

The survey also says there is a wide scope for strengthening public-private partnership in the delivery of health care and involving more non-government organisations (NGOs) for implementing government's schemes in social sectors.