Major boost for health, education

Two sectors – health and education – can expect its allocation in the 2011-12 budget to increase by one-fourth as the two sectors have not got sufficient funds in the first fours of the 11th five year plan. Chetan Chauhan reports.

Two sectors – health and education – can expect its allocation in the 2011-12 budget to increase by one-fourth as the two sectors have not got sufficient funds in the first fours of the 11th five year plan.

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The Planning Commission had set a target of spending Rs 14,21,000 crore during the 11th plan but only Rs 10,11,000 crore could be provided till 2010-11, meaning a shortfall of 42 %, owing to two years of economic slow down.

“Increase of this order is obviously out of question,” a top plan panel official said and added that an overall gross budgetary support in the next budget to be around Rs 4,35,000 crore is being expected.

Of the increase in GBS of around 15 %, the highest increase in allocations would be for health and education sectors.

The panel has found that these sectors were under-funded compared to the original 11th plan allocation as compared to rural development and power. A reason for it was that health and education ministries were not ready to spend the amount in line with the 11th five-year targets.

Now the spending capacities of the ministries have improved the panel has recommended a higher allocation. “They can spend more if the resources are made available,” the official said.

As a result, the panel has recommended Rs 28,000 for health ministry for the budget 2011-12 as compared to Rs 22,300 in the last budget.

Education is expected to get a higher increase with the panel recommending a 40% hike for flagship programme Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and over 30 % increase for the human resources development ministry. Higher education, which got Rs 11,000 crore in last fiscal, may witness an increase of 30% in the budget.

For the next budget, the respective increase in allocation of power and rural development is expected be around 17 %. World’s biggest job guarantee scheme the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) may get just 7.5 % hike as compared to Rs 39,100 crore in 2010-11.

While the social sector ministries such as urban development, social justice and empowerment and minority affairs may expect an increase between 10 to 15 %, the hike for other ministries may be as low as 5%.