Lack of funds? Govt's major developmental, welfare programs lag behind actual needs

By Bharat Dogra 

India has many significant development and welfare programs some of which have won international appreciation for what they aspire to achieve. However the achievement of most of these programs has been much below their potential. There are two reasons for this. One of these relates to poor implementation and utilization of fund due to inefficiency and corruption. 

Of course the situation is not uniformly bad in this context and there are also examples of very good implementation in several districts. However on the whole a lot remains to be done to ensure better utilization and to ensure honesty and transparency in these programs.

However there is another big issue which affects implementation all over the country, namely that in the case of most of these programs the allocated funds are much below the actual need of these programs. In fact in the context of several important programs the difference between what is required for proper implementation and what is actually allocated has been growing in recent years. This makes it very difficult to implement these programs as per the original intentions and in the right spirit. 

Leaving aside the higher allocations made for some time under a special COVID package, the allocations for some important programs show a stagnating trend in recent years and after removing the inflationary impact even a decline in real terms is seen in the context of some programs and schemes.    

The program of rural employment guarantee has attracted international attention for providing legal framework (NREGA) for employment in works which benefit rural communities by promoting sustainable development (for example by taking up water conservation and minor irrigation). However the legal guarantee for employment can work only if the local administration has enough funds to support his. 

When allocations were inadequate even a few years back and when there is a decline in real terms, employment cannot be generated when there is need and demand, and wages for work provided cannot be paid in time, and in the process the objectives of the law-based scheme cannot be realized.

India has some of the world’s largest nutrition programs for mothers, pre-school children and school students, but inadequate and stagnant (or declining in real terms) allocations have led to less than expected results, although still these programs play a useful role.

India has perhaps the world’s largest program of free food grain supply (about 5 kg per person per month) which is supposed to reach about 800 million people. However there have been several complaints of many eligible persons not receiving this ration.

The National Social Assistance Program is aimed at making available pensions to elderly people, widows and disability affected persons. This is perhaps the most extreme example of a high priority welfare and social security program being deprived badly of much-needed resources as the already inadequate allocations available some years back have declined in real terms. The result is that per person allocation is very low and the scheme is far from reaching all eligible members.

The situation is dismal in crucial sectors like education and health despite the fact that the need for increasing allocations significantly has been emphasized several times. The allocation for education seen as a percentage of the total union budget has declined over the past decade. In the case of health and family welfare the allocation is substantially below the expected norm for such an important sector. 

This has led to unmet needs as well as increasing privatization at various levels in these two sectors although the need in India is for the government to accept a very important share of the responsibilities for health and education.

Thus while important responsibilities have not been getting adequate attention, the expenditure on some populist schemes announced at the time of various elections has been increasing, and while some of these ad-hoc schemes also provide some relief to poorer people, these cannot be as effective as well-established schemes, sometimes supported by laws, which can meet important needs of people in more durable ways. 

It is therefore very important for the government to raise adequate resources to meet high priority needs of people by ensuring adequate resources for those programs and schemes which are dedicated to meeting such needs.

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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include When the Two Streams Met, Planet in Peril, and A Day in 2071