While presenting the union budget for the year 2024-25, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman identified nine priorities: increase in productivity and resilience in agriculture; employment and skilling; inclusive human resource development and social justice; manufacturing and services; urban development; energy security; infrastructure; innovation, research and development; and next-generation reforms. Most of the focus on inclusive human development and social justice has been confined to the eastern (especially Bihar) and north-eastern states and to Andhra Pradesh. The Finance Minister announced Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan for 63,000 tribal majority villages and villages in aspirational districts but this does not figure in the list of schemes under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs budget.
Budget for marginalized communities
There is very little or no increase in the budget for ministries and departments catering to the needs of various marginalized sections of society. The budget for the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment has increased by only 1.2 per cent from last year, while the budget for the Department of Empowerment of People with Disabilities is the same as in the last year. The budget for the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has increased by 4.3 per cent, for the Department of Minority Affairs by 1.3 per cent and for the Ministry of Women and Child Development by only 2.5 per cent.
As the table below shows, while all the ministries saw an increase in budget in 2023-24 compared to the years 2021-22 and 2022-23, the Ministry of Minority Affairs budget saw a major decline and it has remained almost the same this year as well.
Budget for Ministries/Departments for the marginalized sections (Rs Crores)
| Ministry/Dept | 2021-22 (Budget Estimate) | 2021-22 (Actual Expenditure) | 2022-23 (Budget Estimate) | 2022-23 (Actual Expenditure) | 2023-24 (Budget Estimate) | 2023-24 (Revised Estimate) | 2024-25 (Budget Estimate) | Increase in 2024-25 BE over 2023-24 BE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dept. of Soc. Justice and Empowerment (MSJE) | 10517.62 | 7435.22 | 11922.51 | 7413.76 | 12847.02 | 9853.32 | 13000.2 | 1.19 |
| Dept. of Empowerment of People With Disabilities (MSJE) | 1171.77 | 1007.14 | 1212.42 | 985.58 | 1225.15 | 1225.01 | 1225.27 | 0.01 |
| Ministry of Tribal Affairs | 7524.87 | 6173.97 | 8451.92 | 7273.53 | 12461.88 | 7605 | 13000 | 4.32 |
| Ministry of Minority Affairs | 4810.77 | 4323.63 | 5020.5 | 802.69 | 3097.6 | 2608.93 | 3138.24 | 1.31 |
| Ministry of Women and Child Development | 24435 | 21654.57 | 25172.28 | 23994.05 | 25448.75 | 25448.68 | 26092.19 | 2.53 |
Source: Union Budget, various years
A major concern emerging from the above table is the underutilization of the budgets allocated to these ministries/departments as shown by the actual expenditures in the above table. Year after year the actual expenditures have been lower than the budget estimates for all the ministries. This underutilization indicates not just the lack of effective implementation but also an indifference towards marginalized communities.
Major schemes for the marginalized sections
The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment is tasked with the welfare of communities like Scheduled Castes (SC), Other Backward Classes (OBC), Denotified Nomadic Tribes (DNT) and transgenders. The total budget for the central sector schemes of this department saw an increase of little more than Rs 100 crores while the budget for its centrally sponsored schemes is unchanged from last year. The budget for the Umbrella Scheme for Development of Scheduled Castes and Umbrella Scheme for Development of Other Vulnerable Groups as well as for the Scheme for Economic Empowerment of Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (SEED) is almost the same as in the last year. The budget for the Development and Welfare Board for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities increased by Rs 3 crores. The total budget for the Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons, which was just Rs 52 crores in 2023-24, has been increased to Rs 68 crores.
The total budget for the central sector schemes of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs saw an increase of about Rs 500 crores while the budget for centrally sponsored schemes of the ministry is the same as in the last year. Schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jan Jatiya Vikas Mission and Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (earlier Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme) faced budget cuts, while the budget for National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of Scheduled Tribe students is less than last year’s revised estimate.
The total budget for the central sector schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs declined while the budget for centrally sponsored schemes of the ministry remained almost the same as in the last year. Overall budget for the educational empowerment under the Ministry of Minority Affairs declined from Rs 1689 crores to Rs 1575 crores, while there is now a negligible budget allocation (just Rs 3 crore) for the Skill Development and Livelihoods Schemes run by the ministry. However, the budget of the Prime Minister Jan Vikas Karyakram, a scheme under the same ministry, has increased.
Budget for welfare of SCs and STs
The budgets for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has increased only by 4 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively. The budgets for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare are 8.18 per cent and 4.85 percent respectively of the total budget for all the schemes of the central government, which is much less than the share of these communities in the country’s population.
Budget for welfare of SCs and STs (Rs Crores)
| 2021-22 (Budget Estimate) | 2021-22 (Actual Expenditure) | 2022-23 (Budget Estimate) | 2022-23 (Actual Expenditure) | 2023-24 (Budget Estimate) | 2023-24 (Revised Estimate) | 2024-25 (Budget Estimate) | Increase in 2024-25 over 2023-24 BE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welfare of STs | 79941.62 | 83921.01 | 89265.12 | 92176.11 | 119509.87 | 109242.12 | 124908.95 | 4.51 |
| Percentage to total schemes budget | 5.6 | 5.04 | 5.5 | 4.85 | 6.25 | 4.85 | 4.85 | |
| Welfare of SCs | 126259.2 | 121613.79 | 142342.36 | 133007.9 | 159147.79 | 146861.08 | 165492.72 | 3.98 |
| Percentage to total schemes budget | 8.8 | 7.31 | 8.8 | 7.00 | 8.33 | 7.74 | 8.18 |
Source: Union Budget, various years
Gender budget
As far as the gender budget is concerned, it is about 6.8 per cent of the country’s total budget this year, which is higher than in the last year. The reason for the increase in the gender budget this year is, however, the reporting of their gender budgets by new ministries and departments and inclusion of those schemes in the gender budget by other ministries which were not reported earlier.
Gender Budget Allocations (Rs Crores)
| 2021-22 (Budget Estimate) | 2021-22 (Actual Expenditure) | 2022-23 (Budget Estimate) | 2022-23 (Actual Expenditure) | 2023-24 (Budget Estimate) | 2023-24 (Revised Estimate) | 2024-25 (Budget Estimate) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part A (100% funds to women) | 25260.95 | 96108.28 | 26772.89 | 84811.04 | 88044.21 | 83259.52 | 112396.15 |
| Part B (30-99% funds to women) | 128065.33 | 113419.49 | 144233.58 | 132612.34 | 135175.54 | 176835.56 | 199762.29 |
| Part C (1-30% funds to women) | 13909.91 | 15000 | 15000 | 15000 | |||
| Grand total | 153326.3 | 209527.77 | 171006.5 | 231333.29 | 238219.75 | 275095.08 | 327158.44 |
| Percentage to total budget | 4.4 | 5.52 | 4.33 | 5.52 | 5.29 | 6.13 | 6.79 |
Source: Union Budget, various years
The increasing trend in size of gender budget therefore indicates better reporting in the Gender Budget Statement (GBS). For example, a major increase in the Part A of the Gender Budget (comprising schemes that allot 100 per cent of the funds to women) came from National Rural Livelihood Mission-Aajeevika under Department of Rural Development and LPG connection to Poor Households under Ministry of Petroleum but neither of the two schemes is new. It also has to be borne in mind that allocation under the LPG connection to Poor Households was almost nil last year and the allocation for the Aajeevika was not reported in Part A. There is now a new scheme called Drone Didi under the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in Part A of GBS.
Similarly in Part B (comprising schemes that allot 30-99 per cent of the funds to women), Ministries of Culture, Home Affairs, Electronics and Information Technology, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Power have improved their reporting.
Additionally, this year the government has introduced Part C of the gender budget, in which the schemes with less than 30 per cent allocation for women are listed. Only one scheme has been mentioned under Part C this year: Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan), in which Rs 15,000 crores (25 per cent of the total allocation for the scheme) is reported to be going towards women. We know the PM-Kisan scheme is ownership-linked and only land-owning farmers can access its benefits. Since only 14 per cent women farmers own land, the 25 per cent allocation to gender budget under the scheme is a welcome development.
Budget for major schemes
If we talk about the major central government schemes, the budgets for Samagra Shiksha, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban and Rural, National Ayush Mission, Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, National Social Assistance Programme, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Rural, Amrit Yojana, Mission Vatsalya (Child Protection Service and Child Welfare Service), Mission Shakti (Women Protection and Empowerment Mission), Jal Jeevan Mission-Rural are almost the same as in the last year or show a marginal increase. The budget for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), which has been a key source of rural employment, is equal to the revised estimate of last year.
At the same time, there has been some increase in the budgets for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM Poshan), Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, Flexible Pool for Urban Health Mission, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission, Saksham Anganwadi and Nutrition 2.0. But the budgets for Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission and Smart City have seen a decrease.
Overall, the budget 2024-25 does not seem to have much to offer for the marginalized sections of society.
Updated: 26 July 2024, 6.45 pm
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