2022 Union budget

Union Budget: Despite Rise in Demand, MGNREGA Allocation Remains Unchanged

The Union government has allocated Rs 73,000 crore for MGNREGA, the rural jobs guarantee scheme, for the 2022-23 fiscal year, the same as the past fiscal. The revised estimate for the last fiscal was Rs 98,000 crore.

Mumbai: Contrary to expectations that the government would combat the COVID-19 pandemic-induced mass unemployment, the Union Budget’s allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGA) has remained stagnant.

The government has allocated Rs 73,000 crore for MGNREGA, the rural jobs guarantee scheme, in the upcoming fiscal. The budget estimate for the 2022-23 fiscal year is the same as the past fiscal. However, the revised estimate for the MGNREGA programme stands at Rs 98,000 crore, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her Budget speech.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has widened inequality and pushed a large population towards abject poverty. The lack of employment opportunities has been exacerbated by the government’s failure to provide a safety net. And curtailing the budgetary allocation on a demand-driven scheme like MGNREGA has had a lasting impact on the lives of the rural poor.

There has been a steady decline in the budgetary allocation and eventual spending on providing rural employment in the country. MGNREGA, the government of India’s flagship programme introduced in 2006, aims at enhancing the livelihood security of households in rural areas of the country by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment. It had practically been a lifeline for the rural poor, more so during the national COVID-19 lockdown in March-June 2020.

Also Read: MGNREGA Was a ‘Lifesaver’ for Labourers During Lockdown: Gujarat Government

There has been a steady decline in the budget estimate and the eventual revised budget for the scheme. The budget estimate in 2021-22 was Rs 73,000 crore – 34% less than what was actually spent on the scheme in 2020-21. And this year’s budget estimate is around 25% lesser than the revised budget of the past year.

By the end of 2019, around 1.7 crore households had availed employment under the MGNREGA scheme. This number saw a dramatic jump by December 2020 – indicating that the rural poor were desperate and were struggling for survival. In 2020, around 2.7 crore households availed employment under the Act. The demand for work has only seen an upward move, with 2.4 crore people demanding work under MGNREGA.

Centre for Policy Research (CPR), one of India’s leading public policy think tanks, in its pre-budget analysis had pointed out several serious issues that are plaguing the rural employment scheme. It said the percentage of unmet demand, which is the difference between employment demanded and employment provided, was highest in April and September 2021 at 33% and 31%, respectively. “For FY 2021-22 till 31 December 2021, around 91 lakh households that demanded work had not yet received it,” a brief report by CPR notes.

With a Focus on Modernisation, Union Budget Allocates Additional Funds to MHA

The ministry’s budget allocation rose by over 11%, with additional funding to many Central Armed Police Forces.

New Delhi: The Union Budget 2022 has increased the allocation for the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which is in charge of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and the Union Territories, by 11.5%. It has allocated a sum of Rs 1,85,776 crore to the ministry in the Budget for the fiscal year 2022-23, up from Rs 1,66,547 crore in the previous Budget.

As in the case of the defence forces, the additional allocation has been made for the modernisation of the paramilitary forces or the CAPFs. The Budget has allocated funds for major plans under the ministry, including the modernisation of prisons at a cost of Rs 400 crore.

The government has also allocated Rs 248.30 crore for ‘Modernization Plan IV’ for the Central Armed Police; Rs 590.60 crore for the Inter Operable Criminal Justice System; Rs 150 crore for Emergency Response Support System; Rs 28 crore for the Women Help Desk and Strengthening of Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau and Rs 300 crore for the modernisation of forensic capacities. No allocation was made under many of these heads in the last Budget.

In the case of the CAPFs or the paramilitary forces, the Budget has allocated Rs 87,444.06 crore, which is nearly 7% more than the Rs 81,396 crore that was earmarked in the last Budget.

Among these forces, the highest allocation has been made for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at Rs 29,324.92 crore, followed by Rs 22,718.45 crore for the Border Security Force (BSF); Rs 12,201.90 crores for the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF); Rs 7,653.73 crore for the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB); Rs 7,461.28 crore for the Indo Tibetan Border Police; Rs 6,658.41 crore for Assam Rifles; and Rs 1,293.37 crore for the National Security Guard (NSG). The budget of the Intelligence Bureau has also been increased by around 10%, to Rs 3,168.36 crore this year.

The allocation for some of the Union Territories has also been increased with the MHA being allocated a sum of Rs 35,581.44 crore for Jammu and Kashmir and Rs Rs 5,958 crore for Ladakh.

In the case of the Delhi police, which also reports to the MHA, the allocation has been reduced to Rs 10,096.29 crore from the revised allocation of Rs 11,136.22 crore in 2021. For enhancing women’s security, the Budget has increased the amount under the Nirbhaya Fund.

Apart from this, Budget 2022-23 has also set aside a sum of Rs 565.72 crore for border development.

Northeast in the Budget: FM Announces Rs 1,500 Crore Development Initiative

The Prime Minister Development Initiative for the North East is specially meant to “enable livelihood activities for youth and women” in the eight northeastern states, Nirmala Sitharaman said.

New Delhi: As part of the Union Budget 2022, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told parliament that her government has put together a Rs 1,500 crore scheme specially meant to “enable livelihood activities for youth and women” in the eight northeastern states. The scheme will be called Prime Minister Development Initiative for the North East (PM-DevINE).

Stating in her budget speech that the scheme “is not a substitute for existing Central or state schemes”, the finance minister said, “The new scheme will be implemented through North Eastern Council [a statutory body under the DoNER (Development of North Eastern Region) ministry].”

“It will fund infrastructure, in the spirit of PM Gati Shakti, and social development projects based on felt needs of the Northeast. This will enable livelihood activities for youth and women, filling the gaps in various sectors,” Sitharaman said.

She said, “While the Central ministries may also pose their candidate projects, priority will be given to those posed by the states. An initial allocation of Rs 1,500 crore will be made.”

Seven projects have been identified for the scheme, including two in Mizoram that would cover a majority of the allocated funds. While Rs 500 crore has been allocated for the construction of a bypass in Aizawl, Rs 100 crore has been set aside for a pilot project to construct a ‘bamboo link road’ at different locations in various districts of the state.

With Rs 600 of the Rs 1,500 crore fund allocated for projects in Mizoram are part of the BJP’s efforts to make electoral inroads in the state. Though the party is in a coalition government with the Mizo National Front, in the last assembly elections, the BJP failed to make much headway in the Christian majority state.

Of the remaining amount, Rs 64 crore has been allocated for the passenger ropeway system from Pelling to Sanga-Choeling in West Sikkim, Rs 58 crore to fund a ropeway from Dhapper to Bhaleydhunga in South Sikkim. In Sikkim too, the BJP couldn’t play an influential role in the last assembly polls. It had to increase its tally to become the leading opposition by bringing in MLAs from the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF).

While Rs 537 crore has been kept for yet to be identified projects, the remaining amount of the Rs 1500 crore scheme has been distributed among all the northeastern states. Two such multi-state projects are the establishment of “dedicated services for the Management of Pediatric and Adult Haemotolymphoid Cancers in North East India, Guwahati” and “NECTAR Livelihood Improvement” project.

No New Major Schemes for Health Sector in Union Budget 2022-23

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said one new scheme, a ‘National Tele Mental Health Programme’, would be launched.

New Delhi: If stakeholders in the health sector were looking for any key announcement in the Union Budget 2022-23, they were in for a big disappointment as both health infrastructure and research were snubbed.

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech mentioned the health component at the very beginning, saying that the strengthening of India’s health infrastructure and the speedy implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination programme was there for all to see. The rest of the speech, however, was lacklustre, as far as the health sector was concerned.

Only one new scheme was announced. “The pandemic has accentuated mental health problems in people of all ages,” the finance minister said. Keeping this in view, Sitharaman said a ‘National Tele Mental Health Programme’ would be launched. The programme would include a network of 23 tele-mental health centres of excellence with Bengaluru-based National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) anchoring it. The International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-B) will provide tech support.

She did not provide any more details about the programme, even the scheme’s budgetary outlay.

Overall, the health ministry has been allocated Rs 86,200 crore – an increase of over Rs 12,000 crore from last year’s budgeted estimate but just Rs 200 crore more than the revised estimate.

In last year’s budget, the finance minister had announced the PM Atma Nirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana with an outlay of Rs 64,180 crore to be spent over six years. The aim was to improve primary, secondary and tertiary health centres and create an ecosystem to detect and cure new and emerging diseases.

The ‘Implementation of Budget’ document that gives an assessment of work done on schemes announced last year indicates that operational guidelines for the Yojana were released only in October 2021. The proposals under this scheme have been received from 10 states and union territories – Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand. The proposals are under process for approval.

Land for the establishment of the ‘Centre for One Health’, as per the Yojana, has been identified in Nagpur. According to a Press Information Bureau release, this Centre will carry out surveillance of important bacterial, viral and parasitic infections in the country. This was conceptualised in the backdrop of the COVID-19 outbreak.

In last year’s budget, the finance minister had also said that five more National Institutes of Virology (NIVs) would be opened. Currently, there is only one, in Pune. This year’s Budget implementation document says that the NIVs would be opened in Dibrugarh, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Bengaluru and Jabalpur. The construction work is to begin soon.

The PM Atma Nirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana had many other components, like support for health and wellness centres, public health labs at block levels in 11 states, the establishment of critical care blocks in 602 districts, strengthening of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), setting up 15 health emergency operation centres and two mobile hospitals. The implementation document did not provide any update on these components.