Representatives of around 20 civil society organizations and NGOs met the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley as part of pre-budget consultation on social sector on 12 January, 2016. Immediately after the pre-budget consultation, a press conference was held by some of these organizations to convey the media persons what demands/ suggestions were made.

Subrat Das, Executive Director of Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA, http://www.cbgaindia.org/) informed that during last year the Union budget was restructured as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission. Although the states now are enjoying higher share of untied funds, the net resources available with some of the states has declined. This is because Plan spending by the Centre has come down since last year. It is interesting to see how various states are prioritizing their state budgets in the face of dwindling Plan spending, said Das.

While all states have gained more autonomy now in setting their budgetary priorities, some of the states such as Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, are heavily dependent on Central transfers for mobilizing resources for their state budgets; given the stronger need for increasing public investment in social sectors in these states, it is necessary that the Union Government does not reduce the priority for social sector programmes in its budgets, asked Das.

Preliminary analysis of some of the state budgets and supplementary budgets for 2015-16 indicates that states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha have increased the priority (in terms of the share of a sector in the total state budget) for sectors like energy and public works, while the priority for rural development and Panchayati Raj sector appears to have diminished in the state budgets of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Social sector programmes/ schemes such as Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (SABLA), Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS), and National Rural Drinking Water Programme have been adversely affected in terms of the overall budget allocations in a number of poorer states in 2015-16. Hence, the Union Ministry of Finance needs to provide adequate resources for social sector schemes in general, and the schemes identified above in particular, both in the revised estimates for 2015-16 and the budget estimates for 2016-17, said Subrat Das of CBGA.

Ravi Duggal on behalf of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, http://www.phmovement.org/en/india said that India spends quite less on public health despite enjoying high level of economic growth. Within the country, some states/ UTs such as Mizoram, Sikkim, Goa and Puducherry have performed well in terms of spending on public health, which is nearly Rs. 3000 per capita annually. The High Level Expert Group on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) had recommended that public expenditure on health should be increased to at least 2.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of the Twelfth Five Year Plan.

Duggal informed that India’s health sector is witnessing a number of problems: a. There is a shortage of human resources such as doctors and nurses in primary health centres (PHCs). The shortage of doctors and nurses amounts to nearly 76 percent and 52 percent, respectively. Thailand has come up with compulsory public service, which India can emulate so that the society gets a return from investing in doctors’ education. In Thailand, public medical school graduates perform compulsory service for three years; b. Allocation of resources is not happening in an equitable way. PHCs are mostly underfunded, and such spending should be quadrupled. Access to medicines in PHCs should be ensured. In India out-of-pocket spending on medicines is quite high, and is estimated to be 58 percent of total health expenditure in 2012. The High Level Expert Group had recommended free medicine to be supplied in public health centres. All user charges should be done away with; c. There is a need to increase accountability of public health systems, which then can improve public service utilization. The resources available with private hospital needs to be made available for the poor and needy. Although the Employment State Insurance Scheme (ESIS) has done well, its mandate is not to set-up medical colleges. Duggal opposed the move by NITI Aayog regarding private sector-led universal health insurance that encourages privatized healthcare system.

Mamta Das of WaterAid, http://www.wateraid.org/where-we-work/page/india informed that the allocation to National Rural Drinking Water Programme, both at the Union and states, has declined between 2014-15 and 2015-16. Donations of more than Rs. 349 crore have been made by various organizations and people during 2014-15 to the Swachh Bharat Kosh, which is likely to increase with recent emphasis on Clean India Campaign. In addition, a 0.5 percent Swachh Bharat cess has been imposed with effect from 15 November 2015 on all services liable for service tax. Therefore, at this stage it is essential to establish regulations of accountability and transparency.

A targeted approach needs to be applied to ensure that the money is utilized for the most vulnerable and the excluded in rural areas.

The World Bank has committed $1.5 billion to support the Government of India in implementing the rural component of the Swachh Bharat Mission. The programme focussed on performance based incentives. A clear and transparent mechanism of its utilization is required, urged Das. She said that there is a need to ensure adequate budget to address the crisis of water and sanitation in urban India with necessary transparency and accountability mechanisms. The Swachh Bharat Mission has the objective of making 1.04 crore individual household latrines (IHHL) in urban areas with unit cost of Rs. 4000 per toilet. The estimated cost in urban areas is much lower than in rural areas (Rs. 12000 per toilet) and is therefore unrealistic.

The Government's announcement of 100 percent coverage of schools in terms of separate toilets for girls and boys has been contested on the basis of gaps seen on ground. It will cause a budget deficit if provisioning is made based on the current claims that seem to have serious gaps. A reality check is required at this hour by a third party assessment so as to plan budget for water, sanitation and hygiene.

It is essential to see that total eradication of manual scavenging takes place as was envisaged in Swachh Bharat Mission. This is possible with technological innovation and mechanization of cleaning of IHHL and septic tanks.

In view of the adverse impact of budget cuts on children’s schemes, Komal Ganotra from Child Relief and You (CRY, http://www.cry.org/) said that there is an urgent need to increase allocations for ICDS, on interventions to improve secondary education and for Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS). She said that in anganwadi centres (AWCs) only 50 percent of children belonging to the target age-group could be tapped. There is a need to increase budget for child nutrition and early childhood care and education. Pre-school education is not taking place in most states. The AWCs should be given more funds so that they serve as crèche too. Since the Right to Education Act has been enacted, there is a compulsion to allocate funds for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. However, the same is not happening in the case of secondary education. Budgetary allocation for the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) in 2015-16 was reduced by 29 percent between 2014-15 and 2015-16 in the budget estimates. Adequate number of hostels have not been constructed to incentivize girls’ education at secondary level. There has been a weak enforcement of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Prohibition and Regulation of Child Marriage Act etc. due to inadequate financial backing.

Drawing attention to the Kothari Commission recommendation for stepping up public spending on education to six percent of GDP, Ambarish Rai of Right to Education Forum, http://www.rteforumindia.org/ asked for Union Budget allocations to be stepped up significantly for enabling the recruitment of trained and qualified teachers and training them as per the provisions of the RTE Act. He said that at present India spends less than 4 percent of GDP on education. Our schools do not have adequate infrastructure. There are not enough well trained teachers. The Government is depending on private sector in the form of public-private partnership, handing over schools to private sector, voucher system etc. Due to privatization of education, students from Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and minority backgrounds are likely to suffer.

Paul Divakar of National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR, http://www.ncdhr.org.in/) stressed the significance of Scheduled Caste Sub Plan and Tribal Sub Plan in reducing social inequalities in the country and appealed the Finance Minister to push for proper implementation of these important policy strategies by the Union Government ministries.

Drawing attention to the fact that 2015 has been a very difficult year for the farmers with extremes of weather conditions subjecting millions of farmers either to drought or floods/ heavy rains/ hailstorms, Sandeep Chachra of ActionAid India, http://actionaid.org/india sought greater emphasis in the forthcoming budget for the small and marginal farmers, tenants and share croppers with focus on rainfed areas; he argued for adequate budgetary provisions to be made for agricultural research, extension services, credit, seeds, water and soil conservation, market, support price, and infrastructure support.

Chachra said that steps should be taken so that most small and marginal farmers could benefit from interest subvention and input subsidies. Insurance premium for small and marginal farmers should be fully financed by the Government. The small and marginal farmers should be provided minimum guaranteed incomes. Farm credit should reach out to the small and marginal farmers. Although spending on agricultural research and development (R & D) should be 1 percent of GDP, it has not happened yet. In the case of spending on all crop insurance schemes taken together, the budget estimate in 2015-16 was a little higher than that in 2014-15. He informed that budgetary allocation for Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) was reduced between 2014-15 and 2015-16 in the budget estimates.

The Government has set a target of constructing 20 million houses by 2022 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Housing for All, which is roughly 3 million houses every year. Budget allocation should be stepped up for this intervention because the private sector might not be forthcoming in this initiative as has been expected by the government. It is estimated that the Housing for All by 2022 will cost the Union Government Rs. 3 lakh crore in the next 7 years or approximately Rs. 42850 crore per annum. The budgetary allocation for National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM), under which comes the Scheme of Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH), has remained stagnant in the last few years, and between 2014-15 and 2015-16, there has been a decline in budget estimates.

Dipa Sinha, representing the Right to Food Campaign, http://www.righttofoodcampaign.in/ said that although the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provides for a universal maternity entitlement for all pregnant women, the entitlement is currently being provided in only 53 districts (the pilot districts under Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana). Citing the affidavit filed by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development in the Supreme Court, which stated that it would universalize the scheme in three years starting with 200 districts in the current year, she urged Union Budget 2016-17 for adequate provisions to cover this in at least 200 districts this year, with a plan to ensure universalization within three years’ time.

She informed that the direct benefits transfer in the public distribution system (PDS) has not taken off well in many places such as Puducherry, Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli. In certain states like Bihar, it could be seen that there was improvement in the PDS due to computerisation of ration shops and various other reforms. There is a need to do independent evaluation of the direct cash transfer of various schemes before they are further universalized and allocated more funds for operation. There is a need to link cost of meal provided in the MDMS with food inflation. Pulses and edible oil too should be provided in the PDS under the NFSA.

In real terms, the allocation to MGNREGA has come down in the recent years. Budgetary allocation for MGNREGA should be linked to inflation. It must be seen that expenditure on MGNREGA as a percentage of GDP should not get lower. Since the MGNREGA is demand driven, there should not be rigidity (fiscal tightening) in funding it, said Sinha. If wages are not paid in time, demand for MGNREGA will not take place. The states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh are unable to pay wages to the NREGA workers due to paucity of funds. These states have spent already 95 percent of the amount that was allocated to them. Therefore, the Rural Development Minister has recently requested the Ministry of Finance to release Rs. 5,000 crore.

While making a strong case for stepping up substantially the budgetary resources for social sectors, the civil society representatives also outlined the strong need for enhancing budget transparency across the country, especially at the district and sub-district level so as to facilitate community engagement and social accountability in development programmes and schemes. As funds provided by the Union Government in all Central schemes are flowing through the Treasury System in the states (since 2014-15), it is now possible for the Treasury Office in a District to publish in timely manner information on budgets, which is locally relevant in the district concerned. In this context, Subrat Das of Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability urged the Union Government to encourage the states to enhance transparency in fund flow and fund utilisation at the district level by putting out in public domain timely, relevant, and accessible / usable information on fund flow and fund utilisation at regular intervals during the course of the year.