The renowned economist, and former vice chairman of NITI ayog of India, Dr Arvind
Pangariya was clear in his opinion, when he opined that Prime minister, Narendra Modi’s vision was visible in the recent Budget; it was a complete departure from earlier ones as it gave precedence to capital expenditures to ensure fiscal consolidation and ensure continuity in growth of the country. The capital expenditure has gone up by 26 percent i.e. from Rs 4.39 trillion in 2021 to Rs 5.54 trillion in FY 22 which is linked to asset creation and gainful employment through national highways development programmes and national infrastructures thereby giving an impetus to ‘Gati Shakti’.’
Pangariya was forthright when he told this writer that unprecedented enhancement of 35 percent budget under the head of capital expenditures is targeted to give top priority to development of the nation and Modi’s government has deviated from announcing sops to specific groups like scheduled castes, scheduled Tribes, OBCs, women etc., but focused on development to become one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Analysts believe that Prime Minister did not opt for juicy announcements in the budget to allure the voters in five states where BJP’s prestige is at stake especially Uttar Pradesh which may decide roadmap for 2024 parliamentary polls in the country. In this backdrop, experts say that finance minister could not come up to the expectations of people in making allocations to worst affected sectors like health, education, MNREGA etc. The affected stakeholders include students, unemployed youths, labor force etc., in the entire country.
Medical experts feel that there are some positives in health budget including new initiatives viz. an increase of 16.50 percent in health allocation, enhancement in funds for Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana’s budget by 36.1 percent, a welcome new idea to establish 23 Telehealth centres to provide support for mental health services across the country, creation of a national digital health ecosystem etc. But contrary to it, notwithstanding horrendous fallout of Covid19 and failure of the successive governments at the centre over several decades to create health care facilities in villages, towns and even cities, union minister, Nirmala Sitharaman was expected to do more to come up to the expectations of the people by giving top priority to health sector in the budget proposals presented.
Treating pandemic as limited duration crisis
Experts opine that Union government has treated pre pandemic distress as short duration upset in Indian history for two years hence it has reduced the allocation for the health sector from Rs 98,000 crore in 2021-22 to 73,000 crore in 2022-23 which seems to be inadequate. It means that horrible impact of Covid19 did not change the low health priority of the government of India which emanated from lack of proper medical facilities in every part of India including even the metro cities leading to untimely and tragic deaths of innocent persons. Central government has been promising a spending of 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which was not witnessed in current budget thereby keeping it confined to papers. As against Rs 39,000 for Covid19 Vaccines, Budget reflects the allocation of Rs 5,000 crore only which is evidence of the government’s thinking that there is no need to focus on this area as eligible persons will receive vaccines during current financial year. But genesis of problem is long term action plan to address the decades old casual approach to reach out to have nots residing in villages and towns who must be provided the mandatory health facilities which are non-existent especially when doctors, staff and medicine are not available.
Stakeholders expected more
Secondly, stakeholders opine that some burning issues did not find warranted status in the budget which included encouragement to the medical device industry to boost domestic manufacturing. No concrete mechanism has been evolved to end the 80 to 85 percent dependence on import bill of Rs 46,000 crore and abolish custom exemptions on various relevant products.
Thirdly, centre’s flagship programme, National Health Mission (NHM) has got a lot of relevance as it deals with states to provide financial assistance under partnership and its allocation has been enhanced from Rs 36,576 crore to 37,000 crore which is merely 7.4 percent. NHM is responsible for Reproductive and Child Health programmes, all disease projects which
are meant for poor. Covid 19 affected all programmes related to lakhs of children like immunizations etc., which need to be accelerated, hence allocations ought to have been high which was not to be. Fourthly, urban residents were hoping against hope that Urban Health Mission will be galvanized which has moved slowly so far but it did not happen. The Government must establish more wellness centers in villages and towns.
Health infrastructure mission must get more attention
Union finance minister has allocated Rs 5,156 crore for PM Atam Nirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana which had projected the possible expenditures of Rs 64,120 crore in six years. It was launched in October last year and spent Rs 900 crore hence warranted increased allocation in 2022-23 budget. The Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PMABHIM) has seen a substantial increase from ₹ 585 crore last year to ₹ 4,177 crore his year which is a good sign. Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme (PMJAY) continues to be exceptionally underfunded as it gets Rs 6,412 crore which is equal to last year’s allocation. Reports say that it had spent only Rs 3,199 crore despite the huge medical needs of the people which can be attributed to outbreak of the pandemic. Investment in health research has been increased by 3.92 percent i.e. from Rs 2,663 crore to Rs 3,200 which is inadequate. Centre may bank on ADB or world bank for additional funds in future to take it to next level. According to ‘Implementation of Budget’ which gives an assessment of work done on schemes announced last year, operational guidelines for the Yojana were released only in October 2021 by the centre which were too late. Ten states and union territories have received the proposals under this scheme which include Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand.
In education sector, Union Budget this year has promised a setting up of a digital university, expanding of ‘one class one TV channel’ programme under the PM e-Vidya scheme, the allocation in School and Higher Education budget has drawn mixed responses from Twitter users. The Union Budget for 2022-23 also showed a massive cut from the scholarship incentive scheme for girl children from Schedule Tribes and rural areas, National Scheme for Incentive to Girls. The overall budget for this scheme has been reduced to zero for the 2022-23 financial year. Also, ‘Padhna Likhna Abhiyaan’, an adult education scheme focused on basic literacy, has not been allocated any funds for the next financial year. PM Poshan which replaced the mid-day meal scheme has been allocated Rs 10,233.75 crore; in 2021-22, the mid-day meal scheme was allocated close to Rs 11,000 crore. Experts feel that an outlay for the financial aid schemes for marginalized, minority, poor and female students has either been reduced or risen marginally which is a cause of concern. The scholarships and fellowships are key to ensure social justice in the field of education and reduction may further increase the educational disparity in the society. A cursory look at two areas like MGNREGA and PDS exhibit that budget allocation during first pandemic year was Rs 1,11,170 crore which was inadequate due to large scale demand for work under the programme from migrants as well as distressed rural workers who returned from other
states. In the second pandemic year, the budgeted amount was reduced to the pre-pandemic level of Rs 73,000 crore though outlay was increased to Rs 98,000 crore for the current financial year. In view of reports from fields, the prior pending wage payments and the current demand might create problems hence budget estimate of Rs 73,000 crore for the coming year is nowhere close to reality.
Another popular scheme related is public distribution system to provide cheap food grains but its allocation has also been reduced from Rs 2,10,929 as per the revised estimate of 2021-22 to Rs 1,45,920 in the coming year. Even if households have gone beyond hunger, and are earning enough to meet their basic food needs at the pre-pandemic level, there was dire need of increase in allocation to keep affected families in survival mode and enable them to pay other liabilities, like debt. In a nutshell, analysts opine that it is a mixed bag of positives and negatives.
K S Tomar is a political analyst and a national columnist.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.