Economy & Equity

Despite the headline-grabbing figures of expenditure in this year’s Union budget, a closer look reveals a troubling reality for the nation’s poorest. https://thewire.in/rights/budget-2024-25-social-sector-spending-shrinks Major schemes and essential programmes that many marginalised communities rely on have seen a reduction in funding. This subtle yet significant shift threatens to undermine the support systems for those who need them most, raising concerns about the true impact of the proposed expenditure. In recent years, funding for key social sector heads has steadily dwindled as a percentage of the government’s total expenditure. Many allocations have either declined or remained stagnant, with any increases being merely marginal. The heads experiencing the most significant cuts compared to 2015-16 include food subsidy, social welfare, education, health, and fertilizer subsidy. For instance, the allocation for food subsidy has decreased from 7.79% in 2015-16 to just 4.26% in the 2024-25 Budget Estimates. Social welfare funding has dropped from 1.7% to 1.1%, Education, from 3.75% to 2.61%, health from 1.91% to 1.85%, and fertilizer subsidy from 4.04% to 3.4%. Meanwhile, pension allocations have remained stagnant at 5.05%. by Pranay Raj 25/07/2024