Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday tabled Supplementary Demands for Grants in the lok Sabha mainly seeking a raise in spending on social welfare. The Finance Ministry plans to raise the budget for women and child welfare, as well as sanitation programmes, by around 40 per cent.
In February, the Government came under attack from the Opposition and social activists after they redirected funds from social programmes towards infrastructure, asking the States to fill the gap. The changes, once approved, will come as a relief for Women and Child Development Minister, Maneka Gandhi, who had also protested after her Ministry’s budget, was more than halved.
Finance Minister Jaitley allocated Rs 10,382 crore for the Ministry. last year, the allocation was Rs 21,193 crore of which the Ministry managed to spend Rs 18,588 crore. The allocation left the Ministry at sea given that the expenditure on the flagship Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) alone is in the Rs 16,000 crore range. The allocation for ICDS has come down to about Rs 8,000 crore. The new proposal put her budget at about Rs 14, 400 crore. The bulk of additional funds will go to a child welfare scheme that provides free food to 85 million children. Maneka Gandhi had warned the Finance Minister of political fallout if the focus on malnutrition was reduced. The Government also proposed to increase the budget for the drinking water and sanitation sector by 43 per cent to Rs 8, 500 crore.