Union Budget 2021: Social sector spending sees muted allocations

Against a background of mounting distress among weaker sections of the population due to the pandemic, allocations for social sector spending in the Union Budget 2021-22 appeared to present a mixed bag. 

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment received an allocation of Rs 10,516 crore, an enhancement of Rs 414 crore over the previous budget. 

There was a 4 percent drop in allocation for the Ministry of Minority Affairs at Rs 4,810 crore. It was allocated Rs. 5,029 crore for 2020-21. 

However, allocations for the Ministry of Tribal Affairs saw a 37 percent increase over the revised estimates for 2020-21.  The outlay for the tribal affairs ministry is pegged at Rs. 7,525 crore.  It was allotted Rs. 7,411 for 2020-21.

Announcing the outlay for the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “We have revamped the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for the welfare of Scheduled Castes. I have also enhanced the Central Assistance in this regard. We are allotting "35,219 crores for 6 years till 2025-2026, to benefit 4 crores SC students.”

The Ministry of  Women and Child Development was allocated Rs. 24,435 crore for 2021-22, a sharp cut of Rs. 5,572 from its outlay in Budget 2020-21. It was allotted Rs. 30,000 crore for 2020-21. 

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) is the primary body for  the effective implementation of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in India. 

India was ranked 112th of 153 countries on the Global Gender Gap Index 2020. Gender Budgeting (GB) was  introduced in the Union Budget of 2005-06.

"For children with hearing impairments, the Government will work on standardisation of Indian Sign language across the country, and develop National and State Curriculum materials for use by them," the Finance Minister said.

In March ’20, the Union government had announced a Rs 1.7-lakh-crore relief package under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana  to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on the poor to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Unveiling the scheme, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said 80 crore poor people would be covered by way of cash transfers and food security. Each person would be given 5 kg of wheat or rice for free every month for the next three months. Besides, one kg of preferred and region-specific choice of a pulse will also be given.

Further, the scheme also focused on giving cash transfers to different sections of society directly into their bank accounts. It covered farmers, workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), widow pensioners, disabled, women with Jan Dhan accounts, women running self-help groups, beneficiaries of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation and construction workers.

For the disabled, senior citizens and widows, an ex-gratia amount of Rs. 1,000 was announced for three months under the scheme, while women Jan Dhan account holders would  get a one-time ex gratia amount of Rs 500 per month for 3 months. 

Later, in  June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan to provide gainful employment to migrant workers who had lost jobs as a result of the pandemic. The employment scheme was announced  with an outlay of Rs 50,000 crore, covering 116 districts in six states.

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