Question : Pro-poor Schemes

Will the Minister of FINANCE (????? ??????) be pleased to state:

(a) whether the slowdown in economic growth has curtailed the expenditure on schemes meant for redistribution and welfare of the poor and the disadvantaged;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether there is a need to segregate pro-poor schemes for the welfare/upliftment of the poor;

(d) if so, the reaction of the Government in this regard;

(e) whether the Government has identified the items of expenditure with purposes of welfare/upliftment of the poor; and

(f) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government to increase the expenditure on the pro-poor schemes?

(a) & (b):

No Sir. The details of expenditure/allocations on all schemes including schemes meant for redistribution and welfare of the poor and the disadvantaged are given in the Statement No. 4A & 4B of the Expenditure Profile document of Union Budget 2020-21. The overall expenditure/fund allocation under these schemes in the three years is as under:

(Rs. in crore)
Centrally Sponsored Schemes Central Sector Schemes Total
2018-19 (Prov. Actuals) 2,96,029 6,38,495 9,34,524
2019-20 (RE) 3,16,816 7,73,196 10,90,012
2020-21 (BE) 3,39,895 8,31,825 11,71,720


(c) to (f):

(i) The Government has taken various measures to increase expenditure on pro-poor schemes which inter-alia includes new interventions such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan), Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojna etc. The details of budget allocation/expenditure under few important pro-poor schemes are as under:
(Rs. in crore)
Scheme Name 2018-19 2019-20 (RE) 2020-21 (BE)
(Prov. Actuals)

National Social Assistance Program 8,418 9,200 9,197
National Rural Livelihood Mission – Ajeevika
6,282 9,774 10,005
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Program 61,815 71,002 61,500
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana
(including RSBY) 2,224 3,314 6,429
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna(PMAY) 25,443 25,328 27,500
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi
(PM-Kisan) 5,962 54,370 75,000
Food Subsidy 1,01,327 1,08,688 1,15,570

(ii) For Food Subsidy, in addition to budget allocation, financial support of Rs. 97,000 crore, Rs. 1,10,000 crore and Rs.1,36,600 crore has also been provided/estimated for FCI from National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) in the FY 2018-19, 2019-20 (RE) & 2020-21 (BE) respectively. Additionally, Extra Budgetary Resources (EBRs) are also being provided for implementation of the schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna.

(iii) The fund allocation for each scheme is determined after taking into account the actual requirement of funds including absorptive capacity of the scheme and overall resource position of the Government in a particular financial year. For instance, under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program, fund allocation has been increased to Rs.71,002 crore in RE 2019-20 from Rs. 60,000 crore provided in BE 2019-20.

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