India’s poor state capacity is often blamed on inadequate government spending—but government inability to use allocated funds is also to blame
Tag: Budget
19 States Freeze MGNREGA Payments, Centre Not Releasing Funds
Wage payments under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have been frozen in 19 states as of October 31, 2017, official data show.
The vicious cycle of unspent balances – Part 2
Why is the money allocated to social sector schemes left unspent.
The vicious cycle of unspent balances – Part 1
Why is the money allocated to social sector schemes left unspent.
Status quo for majority of social sector schemes
There were a lot of expectations from Budget 2017. The demonetisation on November 8, and the chapter on Universal Basic Income (UBI) in the Economic Survey had raised our hopes for a big bang announcement on the social sector. Partially, I admit, this expectation was premature. UBI is complicated at best, something recognised by the Economic Survey as well, and the ‘benefits’, if any, of demonetisation are yet to be realised. The net result is thus status quo for a majority of the schemes under the social sector.
Renewed focus on maternal and child health a welcome first step
The demonetisation sop is a unique opportunity to evolve the maternal and child health agenda into a universal Maternity Benefits Programme in the budget.
Budget 2016 and the social sector
While there has been an overall increase in social sector allocation, these are by no means significant. Yamini shares her thoughts on the 2016 budget and the social sector.
The State of Social Sector Spending in 15-16
Avani and Vikram analyse the state of social sector spending in 2015 – 2016. Overall, it was found that social sector investments have in fact increased across all states, except Bihar.
Deconstructing Union Budget 2015-16: what has changed?
The budget has left unanswered some critical questions about the future of key social sector schemes