Skip to main content

Union budget shows "no concern" for hunger, malnutrition, rural distress, reduces maternal benefit allocation

F Our Representative
Calling the 2018-19 Union budget "highly disappointing", the top advocacy group, Right to Food Campaign (RFC), in a comprehensive analysis, has said, it has "miserably failed to respond to the present situation of rural distress and mass unemployment", adding, "Despite a spate of starvation deaths in different parts of the country, the budget makes no mention of hunger or malnutrition."
Thus, RFC says, "There was some hope that the budget would be used as an opportunity to expand the Public Distribution System (PDS) to include nutritious food items such as pulses and edible oils. However, there was no such announcement."
It aadds, even though the food subsidy has increased from Rs 1.45 lakh crore in 2017-18 to almost Rs 1.69 lakh crore in 2018-19, an increase of 17%, it "masks reductions in several sub-categories of expenditure". For instance, "the subsidy for decentralised procurement is reduced from Rs 38,000 crore to Rs 31,000 crore", which would "adversely impact poor states such as Chhattisgarh and Odisha that rely on this subsidy."
Similarly, RFC says, "The assistance to state agencies for intra-state movement of foodgrains and fair price shop dealers is slashed from Rs 4,500 crore to Rs 4,000 crore", and its impact would compounded by the "10% increase in diesel prices over the past year."
Pointing out that the Midday Meals budget, increased from Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 10,500 crore, RFC says, it is "not an increase at all when adjusted for inflation", adding, "There is no reflection of any attempts to improve the quality of the meals by including nutrient rich items like eggs, fruits and milk."
While the budget for the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is up from Rs 15,245 crore to Rs 16,334 crore, RFC says, it includes "an allocation of over Rs 300 crores as ‘management costs for aadhaar enrolment',", underlining, "There are a number of ethical concerns with the coerced enrolment of children by aadhaar, that too with the budget meant for children’s health and nutrition."
At the same time, it notes, "Small children will also suffer from the 36% reduction in the budget for the National Crèche Scheme -- from Rs 200 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 128.4 crore in 2018-19."
Regarding the budgetary allocation for the National Nutrition Mission (Rs 3,000 crore), RFC says, the budget "does not indicate how it will be utilised", adding, "Before expending the funds of this mission, the details have to be made public to ensure transparency, and it should be accompanied by public consultations and deliberations."
Sharply criticizing the government for allocating a mere Rs 2,400 crore in place of of Rs 2,594 crore for the maternity entitlement scheme, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, RFC says, "The allocation has gone down in a context where recent data from the Ministry of Women and Child Department shows that there is a huge backlog of applications from last year with only 2% of the eligible women covered until January 2018."
Further, it says, the reduction comes at a time when the government has slashed the benefit from Rs 6000 to Rs 5,000, restricting it to the first birth, adding, "A maternity entitlement scheme as per the National Food Security Act entitlements requires a budget of about Rs 13,000 per pregnant woman. The government should allocate at least 60% of this amount, i.e. Rs 7,800."

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.