Budget ups social spending by 17%

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today announced a 17% increase in social spending in the annual budget.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday announced a 17% increase in social spending in the annual budget, on projects ranging from malnutrition programmes to health schemes.

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"The country has carried for long enough the burden of hunger and malnutrition," he said. The allocation for the social sector would show an "increase of 17% over the current year," Mukherjee told parliament.

He said that the government would spend 267.6 billion rupees ($5.9 billion) on the health sector alone in the next fiscal year, a rise of 20%, while education spending would also rise, to 520 billion rupees.

A national food security bill, which will provide a legal guarantee of subsidised food for low-income families, would be introduced in the current parliamentary session, he also announced.