Neglecting child health at the cost of education, the government has once again failed to take a holistic view of the needs of children

The Indian child's share in Budget 2007 has been cut by 1.23%, with Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram reducing the resource allocation for children. Of every 100 rupees in budgetary allocations for 2007-2008, only Rs 4.84 have been given to children, compared to Rs 4.90 in the previous year's budget.

Among the outlays for children, hikes have indeed been made in funds for education and child protection, but the budget neglects two important areas -- child health and child development. Out of Rs 3,2958.33 crore promised to children of this country, education hogs a 72.4% share and development 16.65%; health gets 10.02% and protection 0.92%.

Evidently, the government has failed to take a holistic view of children's needs. Worse, the hike in education outlay neglects elementary and secondary education, so India's goal of achieving universal primary education appears distant.

In fact, allocation for child health has fallen for the second consecutive year -- from 0.55% in 2006-07 to 0.48%. In the 2005-06 budget, its share was 0.52%.

There is an increase of Rs 673.46 crore in the allocation promised by the finance minister for the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme. However, this is still not enough to meet the Supreme Court's directive of universalising the ICDS in all 17,00,000 habitations. There was already a shortfall of 820,000 anganwadi centres at the start of 2007-08, with only 880,000 operational anganwadis. The promised allocation of Rs 4,761 crore would, in fact, be insufficient even to meet the cost of running centres that are already operational.

This raises questions about the government's ability to start up an additional 107,274 anganwadis and 25,961 new mini-anganwadi centres sanctioned in the current budget.

If one divides the increased ICDS allocation of Rs 673.46 crore by the sanctioned number of 13,3235 centres, only about Rs 51,000 seems to have been allocated per centre per year. This is way below both the National Advisory Council's August 2004 recommendation of Rs 74,016 per centre annually, and the Supreme Court's December 2004 order to double the amount.

The minimal increase of 0.01% in budgetary allocation for child protection -- which constitutes 0.04% of the overall Union Budget 2007-08 -- is largely due to the introduction of the much-awaited Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), which has been allocated Rs 85.5 crore.

However, India's only programme for juvenile justice once again sees a fall in resource allocation. While the Programme for Juvenile Justice (Prevention and Control of Juvenile Social Maladjustment) was a centrally-sponsored scheme covering the entire country, the ICPS is only a pilot programme for a select few states.

Although total allocation for education has risen by 34% this year, the share for children's education (elementary and secondary education) has gone up only by 21.34%. Also, the increase of 10.26% in allocation for elementary education is primarily due to an increase in the budget for the midday meal scheme, resulting from investments on the amount collected through the 2% education cess.

Contrary to reports, allocation for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has actually fallen. The government's other flagship programme for the universalisation of education -- the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) -- has also seen a resource cut despite a merger of the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (Rs 128 crore) and the DPEP (Rs 120 crore) with the SSA.

The finance minister has promised to provide Rs 10,671 crore to the SSA. However, comparisons with allocations for the SSA at the budgetary estimate stage, in 2006-07, show a fall of Rs 329 crore -- it was Rs 11,000 crore in the 2006-07 budgetary estimate and has dropped to Rs 10,671 crore this year. Even compared to the revised estimates for 2006-07, there is a decrease of Rs 433 crore in promised allocations for the SSA this year.

While the finance minister has earned plaudits for focusing on teacher training, an increase in the budget for strengthening teacher-training institutions does not seem very praiseworthy when one considers the decrease in budgetary allocation for the SSA, which already has an inbuilt teacher-training component.

Despite the government's stated commitment to education, the finance minister has also reduced the government's share (other than the education cess) in allocation for the SSA. The allocation promised for the SSA from sources other than the education cess was Rs 5,169 crore in 2006-07. In 2007-08, however, it has been cut down to Rs 3,678 crore. The overall increase in allocation for education has, therefore, translated to a cut in allocation for elementary education of at least Rs 1,491 crore.

Source: Haq-Centre for Child Rights, March 1, 2007