Food, Fertilizers, Fuel, MNREGAS, Mid-day meal face huge cut
Budget hits rural poor as Rs 4 lakh crores subsidies reduced
Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman resorted to massive cuts in many subsidies in Food, Fertilizers and Fuel subsidies between 28% to 31% in the 2023-24 Union Budget compared to 2022-23. If the food subsidies benefiting the poor under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana were given Rs 2,87,194 crores in 2022-23, the Budget earmarked Rs 1,97,350 crores in 2023-24 which is almost Rs 90,000 crores less.
Even the fertilizers subsidy bill for the farmers has taken a huge hit of more than Rs 50,000 crores which is more than 22%. The allocation for fertilizers subsidy was Rs 2,25,220 crores in 2023-23 and has been brought down to Rs 1,75,000 crores. The Fuel subsidies have been budgeted at Rs 2,257 crore, a fall of 75% compared to 2022-23.
As if this was not enough, the rural employment scheme, known as MNGREAS, saw a massive cut of Rs 29,400 crores. The scheme was allocated Rs 89,400 in 2022-23 and now given Rs 60,000 crores in 2023-24. Officials, however, explain that it's a demand driven scheme and the demand was low. The Rashtriya Swasthya Suraksha Yojana also saw a massive; from Rs 8270 crores in 2022-23 to Rs 3365 crores in 2023-24. The PM Poshan Shakti Nirman, better known as Mid-Day meal scheme also witnessed a cut of Rs 1200 crores; from Rs 12800 crores to Rs 11,600 crores at a time when school enrollment rose sharply after the pandemic. Of the five key welfare schemes of the rural development ministry, the National Social Assistance Program (NSAP) has been marginally reduced but the rural housing scheme received a 12% hike. No doubt, certain schemes saw a rise in allocations as well including Jal Jeevan Mission and Health. But Health Research saw a deep cut in allocation at a time when focus is on research.
