NEW DELHI, Feb 16: The last Budget of the UPA 11 government is all set to focus on fiscal discipline at the cost of sacrificing much needed growth in public sector expenditure.
Indications are available that despite being the second year of the 12th Plan, the Budgetary allocations will focus merely on maintaining the tempo of the welfare schemes and there would be hardly any infusion of new schemes or expansion of the ongoing schemes.
Informed sources are confident in indicating that in most of the cases allocations will be frozen at last year’s level and in areas where this is not possible like the rural connectivity scheme, which is mandated to be completed by 2013-end, will be given nominal additional allocation so as to carry on the implementation of the scheme. It would be ensured that more funds would be made available as and when required.
The type of arrangement will be worked out even for schemes which are potentially very important with even the thumb rule in allocation that there is inflation neutralisation.
Sectors like health, education and agriculture will get single digit increase, which clearly indicates that the focus will be on achieving economic stability. The move is different from selling India as a major growth destination.
The step is important as despite all assurances the country has not been able to control inflation and fall in the industrial sector growth.
Despite fiscal constraints, areas like water, science and technology and infrastructure will get relatively sustainable increase to ensure that during the pre-election year growth does touch the historically low level of the Hindu growth rate figure of 2.5 to three per cent, which if reached could cause a major political embarrassment to the economist-led government of UPA.
(UNI)
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