The Union council of ministers led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet after his return from the US and Egypt, senior government functionaries said, with the focus being on the remaining 11 months of the current term of this government.
They added that three issues — the capex of central public sector enterprises, coverage of the flagship welfare schemes of the Modi government, and implementation of the budgetary proposals as announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her general budget for FY23-24 — will be discussed at the meeting as part of an effort to prepare the ground for the 2024 elections.
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The Union Budget 2023-24 earmarked ₹10.1 lakh crore towards capital expenditure, 33% higher than the last year’s revised estimate of ₹7.7 lakh crore. Ministries such as petroleum, power and defence are expected to spend the bulk of the proposed capex.
“In this context, the utilisation of the earmarked capital expenditure is important and needs a close monitoring. Also, the government is aware that last year the capital outlay was reduced by ₹6,000 crore in the revised estimates,” said one of the people cited above, asking not to be named.
{{/usCountry}}“In this context, the utilisation of the earmarked capital expenditure is important and needs a close monitoring. Also, the government is aware that last year the capital outlay was reduced by ₹6,000 crore in the revised estimates,” said one of the people cited above, asking not to be named.
{{/usCountry}}The saturation of flagship projects, such as Ayushman Bharat, the government’s health insurance scheme, PM Awas Yojna (rural), the housing scheme, and the Jal Jeevan mission, which aims to provide piped water to hundreds of millions of households, hold the key to the creation of individual beneficiaries — a section that has become an important vote bank for the BJP.
HT reported last week that the government plans to add another 70 million families to its 100 million-strong flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat in next four months, create 33.4 million eligible beneficiaries in the ₹60,000 crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), and provide functional household tap lines to 40 million beneficiaries.
“The saturation in flagship schemes is of utmost importance for the government. The government’s welfare measures reaches people effectively the ground level, creates new infrastructure in some cases such as in MGNREGS and above all, helps the government reap political dividends,” the first person added.
The third issue, implementation of budgetary proposals, also has electoral implications. In the last budget , the government made around 30 major announcements and with nine months left of the current financial year, it is keen to take stock of the situation. “The announcements have come in the last full budget of the current term of the Modi government. Obviously, these proposals are important and the government wants them to be properly implemented,” a second person said, also asking not to be named.
With months left for the 2024 general elections, the meeting assumes importance. The government will want to focus on capex spending to boost the economy and bolster its welfare push to reach saturation coverage. This will be important because welfare beneficiaries have emerged as an important bloc of voters in elections. A third person said on condition of anonymity that most proposals have received approvals from the Expenditure Finance Committee and their respective ministries.