Building social capital

India needs to spend more on education and health

The Economic Survey 2023-24, released last week, noted: “The realms of health and education are witnessing turning points in quality and access.” Universal access to health and education, the two most critical social sectors, is directly linked to human resource development and economic growth. Although general government spending on the overall social sector is rising in recent years, reflecting the sector’s growing importance, a closer analysis of government expenditure on specific sub-sectors reveals a more complex and nuanced picture.

In the Union Budget, presented last week, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare received a significant increase in