With the social sector outlay gradually increasing to 37 per cent of the total plan outlay in 2010-11, the Union government proposes to allocate Rs.4,500 crore to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the next fiscal, a substantial increase of 80 per cent over last year.
Announcing the increase in the Union budget, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said this would help the social sector focus more on the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes, besides the physically challenged.
Mr. Mukherjee said the increased allocation would help the Ministry enhance the scholarship amounts for students belonging to these sections. “The allocation will allow the Ministry to expand the various schemes it is running for the welfare of the physically challenged, and for the SCs/STs and the OBCs.”
In a big boost to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the government increased the allocation by almost 50 per cent. Furthermore, the budget proposed to allocate a total Rs.44,961.41 crore for the development of children and Rs.67,749.80 crore for women-specific programmes as part of its gender-budgeting programme.
To meet the needs of women farmers, Mr. Mukherjee announced Rs.100 crore as a sub-component of the National Rural Livelihood Mission. “I propose to step up the plan outlay for women and children by almost 50 per cent. Several new initiatives launched in 2009-10 are now ready for implementation.”
He announced a National Mission for Empowerment of Women. “The Integrated Child Development Scheme platform is also being expanded for effective implementation of the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Adolescent Girls,” he said.
Under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the government increased the allocation for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare by Rs.2,766 crore, a part of which would go towards conducting an annual survey to prepare the health profile of all districts. The plan allocation was enhanced from Rs.19,534 crore to Rs.22,300 crore for 2010-11. Mr. Mukherjee announced that an annual health survey to prepare the health profile of all districts shall be conducted in 2010-11. “The findings of the survey should be of immense benefit to major public health initiatives, particularly the NRHM, which has successfully addressed the gaps in the delivery of critical health services in rural areas.”
Of the total allocation for the Health Ministry, a sum of Rs.13,910 crore would be set aside for the NRHM, a flagship programme of the government.
Duty on medical equipment simplified
Simplifying the duty regime for medical equipment, instruments and appliances, Mr. Mukherjee prescribed a uniform, concessional basic duty of five per cent, with full exemption from special additional duty on all medical equipment. “Concessional basic duty of five per cent is prescribed on parts and accessories for the manufacture of such equipment, while they would be exempt from CVD [countervailing duty] and special additional duty. Full exemption currently being given to medical equipment and devices such as assistive devices and rehabilitation aids would be retained,” he said. He exempted specified inputs for the manufacture of orthopaedic implants from import duty. The concession available to government hospitals, or hospitals set up under a statute, was retained.
