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As the Centre targets what it terms its 'four key areas' for the overall development of the country with the Union Budget 2024-25, there are certain areas that were neglected entirely.
While Modi government opted to spotlight its sops for the "poor, farmer, youth, and women," the Ministry of Minority Affairs once again seems to have taken a back seat.
The almost 90-minute budget speech by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday may remind many of the fiscal year 2021-22 when there was zero mention of minorities or new development schemes for them. While a whopping sum is being allocated to other ministries since 2014, the Minority Affairs has always been left with meager pickings.
Budget allocations for minority affairs in past few years
For instance, Rs 11,689 crore was allocated to the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry in 2021-22 which was 28.35 per cent more than previous fiscal's Rs 8,207.56 crore.
However, in the same year, Rs 4,346.45 crore was allocated to Ministry of Minority Affairs. This allocation increased marginally in the next fiscal i.e., for 2022-23 to Rs 5,020.50 crore— up Rs 674.05 crore from the previous year.
While then Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi hailed this allocation as a leap towards "sabka saath sabka vikas, sabka vishwas"— the ground reality for many programmes under minority affairs is growing at snail's pace.
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For 2024-25, the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Minority Affairs is said to have grown by Rs 574.27 crore to Rs 3,183.24 crore as against the revised estimate of Rs 2,608.93 crore in 2023-24, FM Nirmala Sitharaman had said while announcing the Interim Budget earlier this year.
The funds for programmes under this ministry have also been slashed. The 'Skill development and livelihood, Total Skill Development and Livelihoods, and Nai Manzil are a few programmes that have received very minimal budget support.
Najma Heptulla was the Union Minister for minority affairs in 2016 when the she had mentioned that there has been an increase of 20 per cent from 2013-14 in the budget allocation for the Minority Affairs Ministry.
A release by PIB from 2016 reads: "The Minister said in fact in the last financial year i.e. 2015-16, the expenditure was more than 20% higher than in 2013-14, which is a significant rise in just 2 years. Moreover, in 2015-16, for the first time in the history of the Ministry, there was no cut imposed in the earmarked Plan budget at Revised Estimate (RE) Stage and it was maintained at the original level of Budget Estimate (BE) i.e. Rs.3712.78 crore. Ministry spent about 98 per cent of the entire Plan budget in 2015-16. Further, Government has increased the Plan Budget of the Ministry to Rs 3800 Crore for 2016-17, an increase of more than Rs 168 Crore over the 2015-16 expenditure level, which is again a significant rise."
Sitharaman informed the Parliament of total receipts, other than borrowings by Central government, amounted to Rs 32.07 lakh crore, while the total expenditure was Rs 48.21 lakh crore. Sitharaman said that "inflation continues to be low" and added that the fiscal deficit stood at 4.9 per cent of GDP.
Allocation grew by 1,489 crore in 8 years of Modi's governance
The budget allocation for Minority Affairs Ministry witnessed significant growth between 2006 and 2013. During this period, the allocated budget increased from a meagre Rs 144 crore to Rs 3,531 crore, after which it has reached Rs 5,020 crore that was allocated in 2022-23— this rise is in eight years i.e., from 2014-22.
Another report titled In Search of Inclusive Recovery by think tank Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), released in 2022 said the proportional representation of minorities who form 21 per cent of the total population as per Census 2011, was not taken into account when allocating funds for 2022–23.
The report also pointed out at the meagre 4 per cent growth in budget allocation for minority affairs is based on a small increase in allocations for the PMJVK (Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakaram), which was the name given to the Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) in 2018.
The report further notes that the Central government's assurance to provide one crore scholarships to minorities under the pre-matric, post-matric and Merit-cum-Means scholarship schemes in 2019 remained unfulfilled, as only 58 lakh students were awarded the scholarships.
CBGA reported that owing to certain implementation issues, at least 47 per cent applicants remained deprived of the scholarship. However, scholarships awarded to students increased from around 75,000 to over seven million between 2006 to 2013.
Union Budget 2024 LIVE | Making a record for any Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman presented her 7th consecutive Union Budget on July 23, 2024 under the Modi 3.0 government. This Budget brought tax relief for the middle class, while focusing on jobs through skilling, incentivising employers. Track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analysis only on Deccan Herald. Also follow us on WhatsApp, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.