Budget 2023: Budgetary Allocations To Major Social Schemes
The Narendra Modi administration's final comprehensive budget before the 2024 general elections was delivered on February 1 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The Minister revealed a variety of fresh programs, revised income tax brackets and customs duty rates, as well as concessions for farming and the switch to green energy.
In the Union Budget 2023–24 paper, increasing financing for important social programs that assist socio-economic progress was also emphasized. Here is an overview of how the budgetary allotments for some of the key initiatives have changed:
Budget 2023: Budgetary Allocations To Major Social Schemes
1. MGNREGS:
The government significantly cut the funding for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) compared to the 89,400 revised estimate for the current year.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was passed in 2005 with the goal of enhancing the livelihood security of households in rural regions. They claim that the MGNREGS is a demand-driven program that applies to all districts in the country, with the exception of those with a 100% urban population, and guarantees 100 days of unskilled work per year for every rural home that requests it.
2. Food Subsidies:
National Food Security Act (NFSA): The Center has allocated just over 2 lakh crore for food subsidies under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), which includes money for the Food Corporation of India, money for state agencies to purchase grains on a decentralized basis, and money for other logistical costs. In place of the customary subsidized prices of $3 for a kilogram of rice, $2 for a kilogram of wheat, and $1 for a kilogram of coarse cereal, the 81.35 crores NFSA members will begin getting 5 kg of free foodgrains each month beginning in January 2023.
3. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)
After beginning as an emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020 and receiving numerous extensions since then, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), which provided an additional 5 kg of free grains each month to NFSA beneficiaries, was terminated, it was announced in December. The Center's food subsidy cost for the NFSA would typically be close to 2 lakh crore; however, the PMGKAY has almost quadrupled that amount for the last two years, which is similar to the newly revealed allotment.
4. Jal Jeevan Mission:
The Government boosted its financial support for the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), also known as the National Rural Drinking Water Mission, by almost 27% to 70,000 crores from the current year's estimated expectations of 50,000. By 2024, the Jal Jeevan Mission hopes to provide clean and enough drinking water to every rural Indian home.
The Jal Shakti Ministry reported on Monday that the government has been able to connect 11 crore rural households to tap water thanks to the JJM plan. Data from the Ministry's dashboard suggests that 56% of the targeted 19.3 crore homes have been contacted.
The overall cost of the program is around 3.60 lakh crore, with the Center States and Union Territories each contributing 50% of the expense. However, the Center provides full money for Union Territories without a legislature as well as 90% of the funding for northeastern and Himalayan States and Union Territories with legislatures.
5. Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY:
Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, an insurance program, was launched in 2018 with the intention of providing a health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. Targets include the bottom 40% of the Indian population, or 50 crore beneficiaries, or around 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families. Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Minister for Health, claims that as of December 2022, 4.5 crore individuals had signed up for the program.
6. PM-Kisan:
Launched in 2019, the central program PM-Kisan offers eligible farmer families cash transfers totaling 6,000 in three payments of 2,000 each.
