Children queue for their midday meal in schools. Photo: ILO/Flickr (ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVS 2.0 GENERIC)
These are all major schemes and essential programmes that many marginalised communities rely on.
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.
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.
Source: Budget documents of various years.
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%.
In contrast, allocations for agriculture and allied activities and rural development have seen marginal increase, rising from 1.3% to 3.1% and from 5.04% to 5.5%, respectively, over the same period.
These reductions in funding highlight a concerning trend in budget priorities, potentially undermining the support systems crucial for the nation’s most vulnerable populations.
Source: Budget documents of various years.
While major government schemes have seen significant reductions in expenditure, these quiet cuts have reshaped the landscape of social support.
The lower strata of society, who rely heavily on these programmes, are struggling to cope with the reduced aid. The following reductions in major schemes reveal a disturbing trend of shrinking support for those who need it most.
MGNREGA
NSAP
The National Social Assistance Programme, which includes the National Old Age Pension Scheme, Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme, National Family Benefit Scheme, and Annapurna, has seen funding drop from 0.48% to 0.20%.
This integrated scheme, launched in 2018 to unify SSA, RMSA, and Teacher Education, has had its allocation slashed from 1.46% of TE in 2015-16 to 0.78% in 2024-25.
The programme replacing the mid-day meal scheme has seen a drastic cut in expenditure from 0.51% to 0.26%.
Nutrient-Based Subsidy Scheme
Providing subsidised fertilisers to farmers, this scheme’s allocation has decreased from 1.23% to 0.93%.
Urea Subsidy
A critical component for farmers, the outlay has been reduced from 2.82% to 2.47%.
Crop Insurance
While suicide rates among farmers rise, this crucial safety net has only seen a marginal increase from 0.17% to 0.30%.
Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Yojana
Healthcare funding has been cut from 0.09% to 0.05%.
Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme
Despite rising unemployment rates, this scheme’s budget has been reduced from 0.07% to 0.05%. Nevertheless, Modi claims that millions of jobs will be generated.
PM KISAN
Launched in 2019 to provide financial assistance to farmer families, the scheme’s allocation has fallen from 1.8% of TE in 2019-20 to 1.2% in 2024-25.
This article was originally published in The Wire and can be read here.
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