No aid in sight for welfare ministry

In February, the budget of the women and child welfare ministry was cut by about half, from Rs 17,950 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 10,287 crore for 2015-16.

Minister Maneka Gandhi sparked a controversy earlier this week after telling Reuters her departments were struggling, her observations interpreted as criticism of her own government. "We have problems because our cut has still not been restored," she told Reuters. "Literally, it's a month-to-month suspense on whether we can meet wages."

Gandhi is right. Factchecker.in found the budget for women and child development has been cut 51 per cent. There has been a steep decline in funding for schemes run by the ministry like Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls. There has been a 49 per cent decline in the child welfare budget from Rs 17,613 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 8,844 crore in 2015-16. The budget for women welfare saw an increase of 17 per cent in same period, from Rs 384 crore to Rs 452 crore.

ICDS, a programme that offers supplementary nutrition to children, saw its budget cut by half from Rs 16,590 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 8,472 crore for 2015-16.

Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG), a scheme focused on providing nutritional needs of adolescent girls from the age of 11 to 18 with take-home rations, saw no allocations in budget 2015-16.

 

The Indira Gandhi Matritiva (Motherhood) Yojana, focused on paying women on who lost work days due to pregnancy, saw an increase in allocation.

The central government has cut funding for health, education and welfare under the assumption that the states shall fill in this gap.