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Written by Karishma Mehrotra
| New Delhi |
Updated: February 2, 2021 1:17:18 am
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget speech on Monday that the government is making efforts to decrease the number of sponsored schemes to enable more consolidation of funds. Ten flagship schemes, launched by the Narendra Modi government in the past five years, have been allocated a total of Rs 1.5 lakh crore, up from the 2020 outlay of Rs 1.2 lakh crore and expenditure of 1 lakh crore.
The 10 schemes are in the sectors of agriculture (PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, PM Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, PM Fasal Bima Yojana); health and wellbeing (PM Jan Arogya Yojana, Jal Jeevan Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission); environment (National Ganga Plan, Scheme for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicle in India [FAME]), finance (PM Mudra Yojana); and urban (Smart Cities). While Ujjwala Yojana is also a flagship scheme, its allocation was not delineated in Monday’s budget.
The only schemes that saw a substantial increase in allocation over last year were PM Mudra Yojana – from Rs 500 crore to Rs 2,500 crore, and Jal Jeevan Mission — from a little under Rs 11,000 crore to almost Rs 50,000 crore. Jal Jeevan Mission is also one of the fastest growing schemes overall, starting from an allocation of Rs 5,391 crore in its first year (2018).
Along with the MUDRA scheme in the finance sector, the health and wellbeing sector saw a significant push, growing from a total outlay of Rs 20,000 crore last year to Rs 58,500 crore this year.
Agriculture and environment sector schemes dipped by 10 per cent. The Namami Gange Plan has seen the most drastic reduction in funds over the years, climbing down from Rs 1,000 crore in 2015 to Rs 500 crore in 2020 and Rs 600 crore in the 2021 allocation. Swachh Bharat Mission has grown by only 7 per cent since its 2016 launch.
While PM-Kisan saw a dip in allocation from Rs 75,000 crore in 2020 to Rs 65,000 crore in 2021, it has been the fastest growing scheme over the years, rising from Rs 1,240 crore in 2018 to Rs 65,000 crore — a jump of more than 5,000 per cent.
FAME also has seen a sharp rise over time, but not much of a spike this year. It started with Rs 75 crore in 2015 and has now grown to Rs 757 crore.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget speech on Monday that the government is making efforts to decrease the number of sponsored schemes to enable more consolidation of funds.