Yojana Magazine March 2023 - 2 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


23 March 2023
his year again, the efforts by the 
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 
for evolving capital expenditure 
led economic growth strategy has 
been widely appreciated. Capital expenditure 
in the 2023-24 union Budget has been doubled 
from rs 4.26 lakh crore ($58.2 billion) of actual 
expenditure in 2020-21 to rs 10.01 lakh crore 
($122 billion) budgeted in 2023-24. States have 
also been encouraged to follow the same path and 
supplement the national efforts. the Budget for 
2023-24 provides a window of rs 1.3 lakh crore of 
interest-free loans to States for capital expenditure. 
t his is happening along with ever expanding social 
sector outlays. t he mantra of facilitating access and 
ensuring inclusion in the social sector allocations 
has continued in the fifth Budget by the Finance 
Minister.
Almost all the budgetary schemes, designed 
for social sector, have also moved in the direction 
of universalisation, without losing efficacy. i n 
the quest for universalisation of many schemes 
a slew of measures have been taken for inclusive 
social sector allocations: 
endeavoUr For eFFective oUtcomes
T
Strengthening and expanding the social sector in the country has always 
been the priority of the government and this reflects in this year’s budget 
as well. In the nutrition sector, the proposed Development Action Plan for 
the STs would provide access to nutritious food to tribal groups. At the 
same time, PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is another step in promoting 
nutrition. Another important initiative, PM Poshan Shakti Nirman has also 
received a significant budgetary allocation. Several measures have been 
announced in the budget for the effective implementation of the provisions 
of the New Education Policy and skilling. 
dr sachin chatUrvedi Director-General, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi. Email: sachin@ris.org.in
development under critical schemes leading 
to many important social sector achievements. 
the Budget has also explored the possibility of 
enhancing complementarities across schemes for 
better outcomes.   
Social Sector Outlays
With rising per capita income and size of the 
national economy moving towards the national 
goal of $5 trillion by 2026-27, the focus is on the 
development of social sector. to ensure a better 
quality of living , a life of dignity and expansion of 
the economy, the per capita income has more than 
doubled to rs 1.97 lakh. 
expenditure for the sector has witnessed 
significant increase from rs 3.53 lakh crore in 2015-
16 to rs 7.9 lakh crore in 2022-23. Considering the 
latest budget, the annual average growth rate for 
the social sector spending would be around 14.1 
per cent from 2015-16 to 2023-24.
t he accomplishments since 2014 are now also 
discernible across sectors: with nearly 11.7 crore 
household toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission; 
SPECIAL ARTICLE
Page 2


23 March 2023
his year again, the efforts by the 
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 
for evolving capital expenditure 
led economic growth strategy has 
been widely appreciated. Capital expenditure 
in the 2023-24 union Budget has been doubled 
from rs 4.26 lakh crore ($58.2 billion) of actual 
expenditure in 2020-21 to rs 10.01 lakh crore 
($122 billion) budgeted in 2023-24. States have 
also been encouraged to follow the same path and 
supplement the national efforts. the Budget for 
2023-24 provides a window of rs 1.3 lakh crore of 
interest-free loans to States for capital expenditure. 
t his is happening along with ever expanding social 
sector outlays. t he mantra of facilitating access and 
ensuring inclusion in the social sector allocations 
has continued in the fifth Budget by the Finance 
Minister.
Almost all the budgetary schemes, designed 
for social sector, have also moved in the direction 
of universalisation, without losing efficacy. i n 
the quest for universalisation of many schemes 
a slew of measures have been taken for inclusive 
social sector allocations: 
endeavoUr For eFFective oUtcomes
T
Strengthening and expanding the social sector in the country has always 
been the priority of the government and this reflects in this year’s budget 
as well. In the nutrition sector, the proposed Development Action Plan for 
the STs would provide access to nutritious food to tribal groups. At the 
same time, PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is another step in promoting 
nutrition. Another important initiative, PM Poshan Shakti Nirman has also 
received a significant budgetary allocation. Several measures have been 
announced in the budget for the effective implementation of the provisions 
of the New Education Policy and skilling. 
dr sachin chatUrvedi Director-General, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi. Email: sachin@ris.org.in
development under critical schemes leading 
to many important social sector achievements. 
the Budget has also explored the possibility of 
enhancing complementarities across schemes for 
better outcomes.   
Social Sector Outlays
With rising per capita income and size of the 
national economy moving towards the national 
goal of $5 trillion by 2026-27, the focus is on the 
development of social sector. to ensure a better 
quality of living , a life of dignity and expansion of 
the economy, the per capita income has more than 
doubled to rs 1.97 lakh. 
expenditure for the sector has witnessed 
significant increase from rs 3.53 lakh crore in 2015-
16 to rs 7.9 lakh crore in 2022-23. Considering the 
latest budget, the annual average growth rate for 
the social sector spending would be around 14.1 
per cent from 2015-16 to 2023-24.
t he accomplishments since 2014 are now also 
discernible across sectors: with nearly 11.7 crore 
household toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission; 
SPECIAL ARTICLE
24 March 2023
9.6 crore beneficiaries with LPg connection under 
ujjwala. the number of people with Jan Dhan 
bank accounts stands at 47.8 crore facilitating 
cash transfer of rs 2.2 lakh crore to over 11.4 crore 
farmers under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. With more 
than 220 crore Covid vaccinations, nearly 102 crore 
persons are benefitted. i nsurance cover for 44.6 
crore persons under PM Suraksha Bima and PM 
Jeevan Jyoti Yojana is accomplished. 
health
the budget for the year 2023-24 indicates 
a significant trend as there is an increase in 
expenditure on health as percentage of gDP from 
1.4 per cent in 2019-20 to 2.1 per cent 2022-23. 
there has been a substantial increase in 
the expenditure on health sector of the union 
government .it has increased from rs 24,041 crore 
in 2015-16 to rs 58,119 crore in 2023-24. Ayushman 
Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-
PMJAY), launched in 2018-19, has emerged as 
a flagship programme. each citizen is provided 
quality health care for secondary and tertiary 
care hospitalisation, through a cover of upto rs 5 
lakh per family per year.. this is now the world’s 
largest government funded healthcare programme 
targeting over 50 crore beneficiaries. towards it, 
the Be provision for 2023-24 is over rs 7,200 crore, 
showing over 2.6 times increase since 2018-19 
when the scheme was launched.
Among the new initiatives for Amrit Kaal, 
it is proposed to eliminate anaemia by 2047 by 
interventions like awareness creation, universal 
screening etc. of over seven crore people in the 
age group of 0-40 years in the affected tribal areas, 
and counselling them through synergised efforts of 
Central Ministries and State governments. A special 
scheme namely Sickle Cell Anaemia elimination 
Mission would be launched. Sickle Cell Disease 
(SCD), though at times associated with particular 
geographic region/s or specific groups of people, 
is actually a common inherited blood disorder. t he 
g overnment has also announced the establishment 
of 157 new nursing colleges in co-location with the 
existing 157 medical colleges established since 
2014. According to a WHo study (2022), i ndia would 
require at least 4.2 million more trained nurses by 
2024 to care for of its over 1.44 billion expected 
population. it is also proposed to launch a new 
programme during 2023-24 to promote research 
and innovation in pharmaceuticals. Private sector 
would also be encouraged to invest in some specific 
priority areas.
nutrition 
the Budget made efforts for inclusion at 
all levels. in the nutrition sector the proposed 
Aspirational Blocks Programme, covering 500 
Page 3


23 March 2023
his year again, the efforts by the 
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 
for evolving capital expenditure 
led economic growth strategy has 
been widely appreciated. Capital expenditure 
in the 2023-24 union Budget has been doubled 
from rs 4.26 lakh crore ($58.2 billion) of actual 
expenditure in 2020-21 to rs 10.01 lakh crore 
($122 billion) budgeted in 2023-24. States have 
also been encouraged to follow the same path and 
supplement the national efforts. the Budget for 
2023-24 provides a window of rs 1.3 lakh crore of 
interest-free loans to States for capital expenditure. 
t his is happening along with ever expanding social 
sector outlays. t he mantra of facilitating access and 
ensuring inclusion in the social sector allocations 
has continued in the fifth Budget by the Finance 
Minister.
Almost all the budgetary schemes, designed 
for social sector, have also moved in the direction 
of universalisation, without losing efficacy. i n 
the quest for universalisation of many schemes 
a slew of measures have been taken for inclusive 
social sector allocations: 
endeavoUr For eFFective oUtcomes
T
Strengthening and expanding the social sector in the country has always 
been the priority of the government and this reflects in this year’s budget 
as well. In the nutrition sector, the proposed Development Action Plan for 
the STs would provide access to nutritious food to tribal groups. At the 
same time, PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is another step in promoting 
nutrition. Another important initiative, PM Poshan Shakti Nirman has also 
received a significant budgetary allocation. Several measures have been 
announced in the budget for the effective implementation of the provisions 
of the New Education Policy and skilling. 
dr sachin chatUrvedi Director-General, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi. Email: sachin@ris.org.in
development under critical schemes leading 
to many important social sector achievements. 
the Budget has also explored the possibility of 
enhancing complementarities across schemes for 
better outcomes.   
Social Sector Outlays
With rising per capita income and size of the 
national economy moving towards the national 
goal of $5 trillion by 2026-27, the focus is on the 
development of social sector. to ensure a better 
quality of living , a life of dignity and expansion of 
the economy, the per capita income has more than 
doubled to rs 1.97 lakh. 
expenditure for the sector has witnessed 
significant increase from rs 3.53 lakh crore in 2015-
16 to rs 7.9 lakh crore in 2022-23. Considering the 
latest budget, the annual average growth rate for 
the social sector spending would be around 14.1 
per cent from 2015-16 to 2023-24.
t he accomplishments since 2014 are now also 
discernible across sectors: with nearly 11.7 crore 
household toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission; 
SPECIAL ARTICLE
24 March 2023
9.6 crore beneficiaries with LPg connection under 
ujjwala. the number of people with Jan Dhan 
bank accounts stands at 47.8 crore facilitating 
cash transfer of rs 2.2 lakh crore to over 11.4 crore 
farmers under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. With more 
than 220 crore Covid vaccinations, nearly 102 crore 
persons are benefitted. i nsurance cover for 44.6 
crore persons under PM Suraksha Bima and PM 
Jeevan Jyoti Yojana is accomplished. 
health
the budget for the year 2023-24 indicates 
a significant trend as there is an increase in 
expenditure on health as percentage of gDP from 
1.4 per cent in 2019-20 to 2.1 per cent 2022-23. 
there has been a substantial increase in 
the expenditure on health sector of the union 
government .it has increased from rs 24,041 crore 
in 2015-16 to rs 58,119 crore in 2023-24. Ayushman 
Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-
PMJAY), launched in 2018-19, has emerged as 
a flagship programme. each citizen is provided 
quality health care for secondary and tertiary 
care hospitalisation, through a cover of upto rs 5 
lakh per family per year.. this is now the world’s 
largest government funded healthcare programme 
targeting over 50 crore beneficiaries. towards it, 
the Be provision for 2023-24 is over rs 7,200 crore, 
showing over 2.6 times increase since 2018-19 
when the scheme was launched.
Among the new initiatives for Amrit Kaal, 
it is proposed to eliminate anaemia by 2047 by 
interventions like awareness creation, universal 
screening etc. of over seven crore people in the 
age group of 0-40 years in the affected tribal areas, 
and counselling them through synergised efforts of 
Central Ministries and State governments. A special 
scheme namely Sickle Cell Anaemia elimination 
Mission would be launched. Sickle Cell Disease 
(SCD), though at times associated with particular 
geographic region/s or specific groups of people, 
is actually a common inherited blood disorder. t he 
g overnment has also announced the establishment 
of 157 new nursing colleges in co-location with the 
existing 157 medical colleges established since 
2014. According to a WHo study (2022), i ndia would 
require at least 4.2 million more trained nurses by 
2024 to care for of its over 1.44 billion expected 
population. it is also proposed to launch a new 
programme during 2023-24 to promote research 
and innovation in pharmaceuticals. Private sector 
would also be encouraged to invest in some specific 
priority areas.
nutrition 
the Budget made efforts for inclusion at 
all levels. in the nutrition sector the proposed 
Aspirational Blocks Programme, covering 500 
25 March 2023
blocks for saturation of essential 
government services across multiple 
domains, would also include nutrition. 
Proposed rs 15,000 crore Development 
Action Plan for the Scheduled tribes 
would also provide nutritious food 
to vulnerable tribal groups (PVtgs). 
Similarly, PM garib Kalyan Anna Yojana 
(PMgKAY), with expenditure of about 
rs 2 lakh crore, would provide food 
and nutrition security to over 80 crore 
persons for 28 months. As per the fifth 
National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 
2019-21, about 19.3 per cent children 
below five years were facing wasting and 35.5 per 
cent were stunted. 
Shree Ann in the Budget is another important 
step for promoting nutrition. While National 
Year of Millets was celebrated in 2018, india 
took an initiative at the uN general Assembly for 
declaration of 2023 as the international Year of 
Millets (iYoM). t he Budget has made provision for 
supporting the indian institute of Millet r esearch, 
Hyderabad as the Centre of excellence for sharing 
best practices, research and technologies at the 
international level. 
the integrated Child Development Scheme 
(iCDS), now known as Saksham Anganwadi and 
PoSHAN 2.0, is allocated rs 20,554 crore. Another 
important initiative, Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti 
Nirman (the mid-day meal scheme) has been 
provided a budgetary allocation to rs 11,600 crore.
education and Skilling
t he allocation for the education in this Budget 
is rs 1,12,898.97 crore. the Higher education 
Budget is allotted rs 44,094.62 crore for 2023-24, 
a considerable increase from rs 40,828.35 crore 
in revised estimates for 2022-23. the Budget has 
proposed a support of rs 68,804.85 crore for school 
education. 
to cope well with the learning loss during the 
Covid crisis, measures have also been announced 
for effective implementation of all the provisions 
of the National education Policy, particularly 
focussing on skilling. t he idea is to synergise skills 
with economic policies to facilitate job creation at 
scale and to support business opportunities. 
For promoting good governance, attention 
has also been paid to the skilling of government 
officers and staff under the Mission Karmayogi. 
the integrated online training platform, igot 
Karmayogi, has been launched for continuous 
learning opportunities for lakhs of government 
employees to upgrade their skills and facilitate a 
people-centric approach.
Focus would also be on training of teachers 
through District institutes of education and 
training. Similarly to further boost reading 
habits a National Digital Library for children and 
adolescents is proposed to  provide quality books 
in various local languages. t o address the challenge 
of last mile connectivity, education has also been 
included in the programmes for Aspirational Blocks. 
Women’s education under the Samagra Shiksha, an 
overarching school education programme under 
the National education Mission, has been provided 
rs 37,453 crore. 
Budget has also proposed to set up three 
centres of excellence for Artificial i ntelligence (Ai) 
at the top educational institutions. t his would help 
connect industry with academics and help evolve 
an ecosystem for Ai. 
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 will be 
launched to skill lakhs of youth within the next three 
years. on-job training, industry partnership, and 
alignment of courses with industry needs will be 
emphasized. As per the commitment for inclusion, 
the Budget 2023-23 laid emphasis on skilling 
artisans. t he PM Vishwakarma KAushal Samman (PM 
ViKAS) would enable artisans and craftspeople with 
focus on quality, scale and reach of their products 
Page 4


23 March 2023
his year again, the efforts by the 
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 
for evolving capital expenditure 
led economic growth strategy has 
been widely appreciated. Capital expenditure 
in the 2023-24 union Budget has been doubled 
from rs 4.26 lakh crore ($58.2 billion) of actual 
expenditure in 2020-21 to rs 10.01 lakh crore 
($122 billion) budgeted in 2023-24. States have 
also been encouraged to follow the same path and 
supplement the national efforts. the Budget for 
2023-24 provides a window of rs 1.3 lakh crore of 
interest-free loans to States for capital expenditure. 
t his is happening along with ever expanding social 
sector outlays. t he mantra of facilitating access and 
ensuring inclusion in the social sector allocations 
has continued in the fifth Budget by the Finance 
Minister.
Almost all the budgetary schemes, designed 
for social sector, have also moved in the direction 
of universalisation, without losing efficacy. i n 
the quest for universalisation of many schemes 
a slew of measures have been taken for inclusive 
social sector allocations: 
endeavoUr For eFFective oUtcomes
T
Strengthening and expanding the social sector in the country has always 
been the priority of the government and this reflects in this year’s budget 
as well. In the nutrition sector, the proposed Development Action Plan for 
the STs would provide access to nutritious food to tribal groups. At the 
same time, PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is another step in promoting 
nutrition. Another important initiative, PM Poshan Shakti Nirman has also 
received a significant budgetary allocation. Several measures have been 
announced in the budget for the effective implementation of the provisions 
of the New Education Policy and skilling. 
dr sachin chatUrvedi Director-General, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi. Email: sachin@ris.org.in
development under critical schemes leading 
to many important social sector achievements. 
the Budget has also explored the possibility of 
enhancing complementarities across schemes for 
better outcomes.   
Social Sector Outlays
With rising per capita income and size of the 
national economy moving towards the national 
goal of $5 trillion by 2026-27, the focus is on the 
development of social sector. to ensure a better 
quality of living , a life of dignity and expansion of 
the economy, the per capita income has more than 
doubled to rs 1.97 lakh. 
expenditure for the sector has witnessed 
significant increase from rs 3.53 lakh crore in 2015-
16 to rs 7.9 lakh crore in 2022-23. Considering the 
latest budget, the annual average growth rate for 
the social sector spending would be around 14.1 
per cent from 2015-16 to 2023-24.
t he accomplishments since 2014 are now also 
discernible across sectors: with nearly 11.7 crore 
household toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission; 
SPECIAL ARTICLE
24 March 2023
9.6 crore beneficiaries with LPg connection under 
ujjwala. the number of people with Jan Dhan 
bank accounts stands at 47.8 crore facilitating 
cash transfer of rs 2.2 lakh crore to over 11.4 crore 
farmers under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. With more 
than 220 crore Covid vaccinations, nearly 102 crore 
persons are benefitted. i nsurance cover for 44.6 
crore persons under PM Suraksha Bima and PM 
Jeevan Jyoti Yojana is accomplished. 
health
the budget for the year 2023-24 indicates 
a significant trend as there is an increase in 
expenditure on health as percentage of gDP from 
1.4 per cent in 2019-20 to 2.1 per cent 2022-23. 
there has been a substantial increase in 
the expenditure on health sector of the union 
government .it has increased from rs 24,041 crore 
in 2015-16 to rs 58,119 crore in 2023-24. Ayushman 
Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-
PMJAY), launched in 2018-19, has emerged as 
a flagship programme. each citizen is provided 
quality health care for secondary and tertiary 
care hospitalisation, through a cover of upto rs 5 
lakh per family per year.. this is now the world’s 
largest government funded healthcare programme 
targeting over 50 crore beneficiaries. towards it, 
the Be provision for 2023-24 is over rs 7,200 crore, 
showing over 2.6 times increase since 2018-19 
when the scheme was launched.
Among the new initiatives for Amrit Kaal, 
it is proposed to eliminate anaemia by 2047 by 
interventions like awareness creation, universal 
screening etc. of over seven crore people in the 
age group of 0-40 years in the affected tribal areas, 
and counselling them through synergised efforts of 
Central Ministries and State governments. A special 
scheme namely Sickle Cell Anaemia elimination 
Mission would be launched. Sickle Cell Disease 
(SCD), though at times associated with particular 
geographic region/s or specific groups of people, 
is actually a common inherited blood disorder. t he 
g overnment has also announced the establishment 
of 157 new nursing colleges in co-location with the 
existing 157 medical colleges established since 
2014. According to a WHo study (2022), i ndia would 
require at least 4.2 million more trained nurses by 
2024 to care for of its over 1.44 billion expected 
population. it is also proposed to launch a new 
programme during 2023-24 to promote research 
and innovation in pharmaceuticals. Private sector 
would also be encouraged to invest in some specific 
priority areas.
nutrition 
the Budget made efforts for inclusion at 
all levels. in the nutrition sector the proposed 
Aspirational Blocks Programme, covering 500 
25 March 2023
blocks for saturation of essential 
government services across multiple 
domains, would also include nutrition. 
Proposed rs 15,000 crore Development 
Action Plan for the Scheduled tribes 
would also provide nutritious food 
to vulnerable tribal groups (PVtgs). 
Similarly, PM garib Kalyan Anna Yojana 
(PMgKAY), with expenditure of about 
rs 2 lakh crore, would provide food 
and nutrition security to over 80 crore 
persons for 28 months. As per the fifth 
National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 
2019-21, about 19.3 per cent children 
below five years were facing wasting and 35.5 per 
cent were stunted. 
Shree Ann in the Budget is another important 
step for promoting nutrition. While National 
Year of Millets was celebrated in 2018, india 
took an initiative at the uN general Assembly for 
declaration of 2023 as the international Year of 
Millets (iYoM). t he Budget has made provision for 
supporting the indian institute of Millet r esearch, 
Hyderabad as the Centre of excellence for sharing 
best practices, research and technologies at the 
international level. 
the integrated Child Development Scheme 
(iCDS), now known as Saksham Anganwadi and 
PoSHAN 2.0, is allocated rs 20,554 crore. Another 
important initiative, Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti 
Nirman (the mid-day meal scheme) has been 
provided a budgetary allocation to rs 11,600 crore.
education and Skilling
t he allocation for the education in this Budget 
is rs 1,12,898.97 crore. the Higher education 
Budget is allotted rs 44,094.62 crore for 2023-24, 
a considerable increase from rs 40,828.35 crore 
in revised estimates for 2022-23. the Budget has 
proposed a support of rs 68,804.85 crore for school 
education. 
to cope well with the learning loss during the 
Covid crisis, measures have also been announced 
for effective implementation of all the provisions 
of the National education Policy, particularly 
focussing on skilling. t he idea is to synergise skills 
with economic policies to facilitate job creation at 
scale and to support business opportunities. 
For promoting good governance, attention 
has also been paid to the skilling of government 
officers and staff under the Mission Karmayogi. 
the integrated online training platform, igot 
Karmayogi, has been launched for continuous 
learning opportunities for lakhs of government 
employees to upgrade their skills and facilitate a 
people-centric approach.
Focus would also be on training of teachers 
through District institutes of education and 
training. Similarly to further boost reading 
habits a National Digital Library for children and 
adolescents is proposed to  provide quality books 
in various local languages. t o address the challenge 
of last mile connectivity, education has also been 
included in the programmes for Aspirational Blocks. 
Women’s education under the Samagra Shiksha, an 
overarching school education programme under 
the National education Mission, has been provided 
rs 37,453 crore. 
Budget has also proposed to set up three 
centres of excellence for Artificial i ntelligence (Ai) 
at the top educational institutions. t his would help 
connect industry with academics and help evolve 
an ecosystem for Ai. 
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 will be 
launched to skill lakhs of youth within the next three 
years. on-job training, industry partnership, and 
alignment of courses with industry needs will be 
emphasized. As per the commitment for inclusion, 
the Budget 2023-23 laid emphasis on skilling 
artisans. t he PM Vishwakarma KAushal Samman (PM 
ViKAS) would enable artisans and craftspeople with 
focus on quality, scale and reach of their products 
26 March 2023
while integrating them with the MSMe value 
chain. Besides financing, it would encompass skill 
training, knowledge of modern digital techniques 
and efficient green technologies on the production 
side, and brand promotion, linkage with local and 
global markets, digital payments, and social security 
on the marketing side. 
green growth 
india has taken a number of measures 
towards green growth and declared its nationally 
determined contribution for net zero emissions 
by 2070. expanding the idea of Lifestyle for 
environment (LiFe), india is moving forward firmly 
for the ‘Panchamrit’ (five nector elements for india’s 
climate action) and net-zero carbon emission. t he 
Budget has elaborated some of the programmes 
that include green fuel, green energy, green 
farming, green mobility, green buildings, and 
green equipment. it also talks about the industrial 
transition strategies. 
t he National green Hydrogen Mission, with an 
outlay of rs  19,700 crore is planned with a target 
to reach an annual production of 5 MMt by 2030.  
Banks and other financial institutions would also be 
encouraged to launch a green Credit Programme, 
which would be notified under the environment 
(Protection) Act. Central and State government 
Departments are also being encouraged to scrap 
old vehicles.  
For promoting green mobility , excise duty on gSt -
paid compressed bio gas has been exempted. this 
would help in avoiding cascading effect of taxes on 
blended compressed natural gas. it is also proposed 
to exempt customs duty on import of capital goods 
and machinery required to manufacture lithium-ion 
cells for batteries used in electric vehicles.  
PM PrANAM, a new scheme, is also being 
launched to incentivise States / uts to promote 
usage of alternative fertilizers. Besides, 500 waste 
to wealth plants would be established under 
goBAr dhan scheme to promote circular economy.
a griculture and c ooperation
in agriculture sector the Budget has proposed 
digital infrastructure for modernisation and market 
connect strategies. enhanced credit support for 
farmers is also well recognised. the Agriculture 
credit target is increased to rs  20 lakh crore with a 
focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries. 
Digital Public infrastructure for Agriculture 
would be set up as an open source, open standard 
and inter-operable public good. it aims at better 
crop planning, input management, crop estimation, 
market intelligence and push the agritech 
ecosystem to generate job opportunities. An 
investment of rs  2,516 crore has been proposed in 
the budget in order to strengthen the cooperative 
institutions and rs 63,000 Primary Agricultural 
Credit Societies (PACS). 
An agriculture accelerator fund would be 
established to encourage agri-start-ups promoting 
entrepreneurship by youth in rural areas. An amount 
of rs 20 lakh crore towards agricultural credit is also 
targeted for the allied sector, which would also 
enhance development of cooperation sector.
role of research and good quality planning 
material is well recognised in the Budget. in case of 
cotton, attention has been focused on extra-long 
staple cotton. t he idea is to adopt a cluster-based 
and value chain approach through Public Private 
Partnerships (PPP). Similarly, good germplasm 
quality for horticulture crops is to be supported. 
Atmanirbhar Clean Plant Program would be 
launched at an outlay of rs 2,200 crore to boost 
availability of disease-free, quality planting material 
for high value horticultural crops. Similar support 
Almost all the budgetary schemes, 
designed for social sector , have 
also moved in the direction of 
universalisation, without losing 
their efficacy. In the quest for 
universalisation of many schemes 
a slew of measures have been 
taken for inclusive development 
under critical schemes leading 
to many important social sector 
achievements. 
Page 5


23 March 2023
his year again, the efforts by the 
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 
for evolving capital expenditure 
led economic growth strategy has 
been widely appreciated. Capital expenditure 
in the 2023-24 union Budget has been doubled 
from rs 4.26 lakh crore ($58.2 billion) of actual 
expenditure in 2020-21 to rs 10.01 lakh crore 
($122 billion) budgeted in 2023-24. States have 
also been encouraged to follow the same path and 
supplement the national efforts. the Budget for 
2023-24 provides a window of rs 1.3 lakh crore of 
interest-free loans to States for capital expenditure. 
t his is happening along with ever expanding social 
sector outlays. t he mantra of facilitating access and 
ensuring inclusion in the social sector allocations 
has continued in the fifth Budget by the Finance 
Minister.
Almost all the budgetary schemes, designed 
for social sector, have also moved in the direction 
of universalisation, without losing efficacy. i n 
the quest for universalisation of many schemes 
a slew of measures have been taken for inclusive 
social sector allocations: 
endeavoUr For eFFective oUtcomes
T
Strengthening and expanding the social sector in the country has always 
been the priority of the government and this reflects in this year’s budget 
as well. In the nutrition sector, the proposed Development Action Plan for 
the STs would provide access to nutritious food to tribal groups. At the 
same time, PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is another step in promoting 
nutrition. Another important initiative, PM Poshan Shakti Nirman has also 
received a significant budgetary allocation. Several measures have been 
announced in the budget for the effective implementation of the provisions 
of the New Education Policy and skilling. 
dr sachin chatUrvedi Director-General, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi. Email: sachin@ris.org.in
development under critical schemes leading 
to many important social sector achievements. 
the Budget has also explored the possibility of 
enhancing complementarities across schemes for 
better outcomes.   
Social Sector Outlays
With rising per capita income and size of the 
national economy moving towards the national 
goal of $5 trillion by 2026-27, the focus is on the 
development of social sector. to ensure a better 
quality of living , a life of dignity and expansion of 
the economy, the per capita income has more than 
doubled to rs 1.97 lakh. 
expenditure for the sector has witnessed 
significant increase from rs 3.53 lakh crore in 2015-
16 to rs 7.9 lakh crore in 2022-23. Considering the 
latest budget, the annual average growth rate for 
the social sector spending would be around 14.1 
per cent from 2015-16 to 2023-24.
t he accomplishments since 2014 are now also 
discernible across sectors: with nearly 11.7 crore 
household toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission; 
SPECIAL ARTICLE
24 March 2023
9.6 crore beneficiaries with LPg connection under 
ujjwala. the number of people with Jan Dhan 
bank accounts stands at 47.8 crore facilitating 
cash transfer of rs 2.2 lakh crore to over 11.4 crore 
farmers under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. With more 
than 220 crore Covid vaccinations, nearly 102 crore 
persons are benefitted. i nsurance cover for 44.6 
crore persons under PM Suraksha Bima and PM 
Jeevan Jyoti Yojana is accomplished. 
health
the budget for the year 2023-24 indicates 
a significant trend as there is an increase in 
expenditure on health as percentage of gDP from 
1.4 per cent in 2019-20 to 2.1 per cent 2022-23. 
there has been a substantial increase in 
the expenditure on health sector of the union 
government .it has increased from rs 24,041 crore 
in 2015-16 to rs 58,119 crore in 2023-24. Ayushman 
Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-
PMJAY), launched in 2018-19, has emerged as 
a flagship programme. each citizen is provided 
quality health care for secondary and tertiary 
care hospitalisation, through a cover of upto rs 5 
lakh per family per year.. this is now the world’s 
largest government funded healthcare programme 
targeting over 50 crore beneficiaries. towards it, 
the Be provision for 2023-24 is over rs 7,200 crore, 
showing over 2.6 times increase since 2018-19 
when the scheme was launched.
Among the new initiatives for Amrit Kaal, 
it is proposed to eliminate anaemia by 2047 by 
interventions like awareness creation, universal 
screening etc. of over seven crore people in the 
age group of 0-40 years in the affected tribal areas, 
and counselling them through synergised efforts of 
Central Ministries and State governments. A special 
scheme namely Sickle Cell Anaemia elimination 
Mission would be launched. Sickle Cell Disease 
(SCD), though at times associated with particular 
geographic region/s or specific groups of people, 
is actually a common inherited blood disorder. t he 
g overnment has also announced the establishment 
of 157 new nursing colleges in co-location with the 
existing 157 medical colleges established since 
2014. According to a WHo study (2022), i ndia would 
require at least 4.2 million more trained nurses by 
2024 to care for of its over 1.44 billion expected 
population. it is also proposed to launch a new 
programme during 2023-24 to promote research 
and innovation in pharmaceuticals. Private sector 
would also be encouraged to invest in some specific 
priority areas.
nutrition 
the Budget made efforts for inclusion at 
all levels. in the nutrition sector the proposed 
Aspirational Blocks Programme, covering 500 
25 March 2023
blocks for saturation of essential 
government services across multiple 
domains, would also include nutrition. 
Proposed rs 15,000 crore Development 
Action Plan for the Scheduled tribes 
would also provide nutritious food 
to vulnerable tribal groups (PVtgs). 
Similarly, PM garib Kalyan Anna Yojana 
(PMgKAY), with expenditure of about 
rs 2 lakh crore, would provide food 
and nutrition security to over 80 crore 
persons for 28 months. As per the fifth 
National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 
2019-21, about 19.3 per cent children 
below five years were facing wasting and 35.5 per 
cent were stunted. 
Shree Ann in the Budget is another important 
step for promoting nutrition. While National 
Year of Millets was celebrated in 2018, india 
took an initiative at the uN general Assembly for 
declaration of 2023 as the international Year of 
Millets (iYoM). t he Budget has made provision for 
supporting the indian institute of Millet r esearch, 
Hyderabad as the Centre of excellence for sharing 
best practices, research and technologies at the 
international level. 
the integrated Child Development Scheme 
(iCDS), now known as Saksham Anganwadi and 
PoSHAN 2.0, is allocated rs 20,554 crore. Another 
important initiative, Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti 
Nirman (the mid-day meal scheme) has been 
provided a budgetary allocation to rs 11,600 crore.
education and Skilling
t he allocation for the education in this Budget 
is rs 1,12,898.97 crore. the Higher education 
Budget is allotted rs 44,094.62 crore for 2023-24, 
a considerable increase from rs 40,828.35 crore 
in revised estimates for 2022-23. the Budget has 
proposed a support of rs 68,804.85 crore for school 
education. 
to cope well with the learning loss during the 
Covid crisis, measures have also been announced 
for effective implementation of all the provisions 
of the National education Policy, particularly 
focussing on skilling. t he idea is to synergise skills 
with economic policies to facilitate job creation at 
scale and to support business opportunities. 
For promoting good governance, attention 
has also been paid to the skilling of government 
officers and staff under the Mission Karmayogi. 
the integrated online training platform, igot 
Karmayogi, has been launched for continuous 
learning opportunities for lakhs of government 
employees to upgrade their skills and facilitate a 
people-centric approach.
Focus would also be on training of teachers 
through District institutes of education and 
training. Similarly to further boost reading 
habits a National Digital Library for children and 
adolescents is proposed to  provide quality books 
in various local languages. t o address the challenge 
of last mile connectivity, education has also been 
included in the programmes for Aspirational Blocks. 
Women’s education under the Samagra Shiksha, an 
overarching school education programme under 
the National education Mission, has been provided 
rs 37,453 crore. 
Budget has also proposed to set up three 
centres of excellence for Artificial i ntelligence (Ai) 
at the top educational institutions. t his would help 
connect industry with academics and help evolve 
an ecosystem for Ai. 
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 will be 
launched to skill lakhs of youth within the next three 
years. on-job training, industry partnership, and 
alignment of courses with industry needs will be 
emphasized. As per the commitment for inclusion, 
the Budget 2023-23 laid emphasis on skilling 
artisans. t he PM Vishwakarma KAushal Samman (PM 
ViKAS) would enable artisans and craftspeople with 
focus on quality, scale and reach of their products 
26 March 2023
while integrating them with the MSMe value 
chain. Besides financing, it would encompass skill 
training, knowledge of modern digital techniques 
and efficient green technologies on the production 
side, and brand promotion, linkage with local and 
global markets, digital payments, and social security 
on the marketing side. 
green growth 
india has taken a number of measures 
towards green growth and declared its nationally 
determined contribution for net zero emissions 
by 2070. expanding the idea of Lifestyle for 
environment (LiFe), india is moving forward firmly 
for the ‘Panchamrit’ (five nector elements for india’s 
climate action) and net-zero carbon emission. t he 
Budget has elaborated some of the programmes 
that include green fuel, green energy, green 
farming, green mobility, green buildings, and 
green equipment. it also talks about the industrial 
transition strategies. 
t he National green Hydrogen Mission, with an 
outlay of rs  19,700 crore is planned with a target 
to reach an annual production of 5 MMt by 2030.  
Banks and other financial institutions would also be 
encouraged to launch a green Credit Programme, 
which would be notified under the environment 
(Protection) Act. Central and State government 
Departments are also being encouraged to scrap 
old vehicles.  
For promoting green mobility , excise duty on gSt -
paid compressed bio gas has been exempted. this 
would help in avoiding cascading effect of taxes on 
blended compressed natural gas. it is also proposed 
to exempt customs duty on import of capital goods 
and machinery required to manufacture lithium-ion 
cells for batteries used in electric vehicles.  
PM PrANAM, a new scheme, is also being 
launched to incentivise States / uts to promote 
usage of alternative fertilizers. Besides, 500 waste 
to wealth plants would be established under 
goBAr dhan scheme to promote circular economy.
a griculture and c ooperation
in agriculture sector the Budget has proposed 
digital infrastructure for modernisation and market 
connect strategies. enhanced credit support for 
farmers is also well recognised. the Agriculture 
credit target is increased to rs  20 lakh crore with a 
focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries. 
Digital Public infrastructure for Agriculture 
would be set up as an open source, open standard 
and inter-operable public good. it aims at better 
crop planning, input management, crop estimation, 
market intelligence and push the agritech 
ecosystem to generate job opportunities. An 
investment of rs  2,516 crore has been proposed in 
the budget in order to strengthen the cooperative 
institutions and rs 63,000 Primary Agricultural 
Credit Societies (PACS). 
An agriculture accelerator fund would be 
established to encourage agri-start-ups promoting 
entrepreneurship by youth in rural areas. An amount 
of rs 20 lakh crore towards agricultural credit is also 
targeted for the allied sector, which would also 
enhance development of cooperation sector.
role of research and good quality planning 
material is well recognised in the Budget. in case of 
cotton, attention has been focused on extra-long 
staple cotton. t he idea is to adopt a cluster-based 
and value chain approach through Public Private 
Partnerships (PPP). Similarly, good germplasm 
quality for horticulture crops is to be supported. 
Atmanirbhar Clean Plant Program would be 
launched at an outlay of rs 2,200 crore to boost 
availability of disease-free, quality planting material 
for high value horticultural crops. Similar support 
Almost all the budgetary schemes, 
designed for social sector , have 
also moved in the direction of 
universalisation, without losing 
their efficacy. In the quest for 
universalisation of many schemes 
a slew of measures have been 
taken for inclusive development 
under critical schemes leading 
to many important social sector 
achievements. 
27 March 2023
under the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana with a 
targeted investment of rs 6,000 crore would enable 
a quality fisheries programme to support micro 
enterprises in the sector.  
efficiency and c onvergence
in the social sector efficiency as well as being 
complementary is important. With the rise in 
allocations for several specifically focused schemes, 
the Budget has rationalised allocation for ongoing 
generic programmes. the allocation for Mahatma 
gandhi National rural employment guarantee Act 
(MgNregA) received rs 60,000 crores in 2023-24, 
while the allocation at the re stage was proposed 
at rs 89,400 crore. i t is noteworthy that the scheme 
being demand driven can get more funds. if we take 
into account other flagship programmes a sharp 
jump is clearly discernible. the Pradhan Mantri 
Awas Yojna (PMAY) has an increase of almost 66 per 
cent in the proposed overall outlay and the rural 
component of this has also witnessed a major jump. 
total allocation now stands at rs 79, 590 crores 
which was only rs 48,000 crores in 2022-23 Budget, 
in line with the government’s aim of completing its 
ambitious ‘Housing for All’ programme by March 
2024. Accordingly, rs 54,487 crore has been allocated 
for PMAY-gramin. New houses under Pradhan Mantri 
Awas Yojana - gramin are equipped with power and 
cooking gas, and now in this Budget the FM has 
announced linking the scheme with Har ghar Jal 
so that water connection is also provided to each 
PMAY house. efficiency again is a mantra here, as 
effort for convergence of delivery through different 
programmes is being attempted, such as, ujjwala 
for free cooking gas connections and Saubhagya 
for universal electrification. i n 2017, when the 
programme was launched, beneficiaries were already 
connected with Jan Dhan, Mobile and Aadhaar.   
t here is an urgent need to make social sector 
spending more efficient and effective. While the 
JAM trinity (Jan-Dhan Aadhaar Mobile) for Direct 
Benefits transfer (DBt ) has resulted in a significant 
reduction in leakages, a similar innovative approach 
may be essential to drive efficiency to achieve the 
desired levels of outcomes with same/ reduced 
spending. New tenets of governance which have 
driven success in other sectors must be embodied 
for social welfare schemes.                                             ?