Does the interim budget for 2024–25 offer anything beyond an election pitch?

The overall and health budget of 2024–25 does not offer anything significantly different from what has been committed in previous budgets, asserts Ravi Duggal.

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THE Union finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, introduces us to four pillars for whom the 2024–25 interim budget is designed: the poor, women, youth and farmers.

However, the budgetary allocations do not reflect this commitment.

For instance, the expenditure on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme (MGNREGA), which was ₹90,806 crore in 2022–23, is down to an allocation of ₹86,000 crore.

The allocation for Mission Shakti, for the empowerment of women, which was ₹3,144 crore in the previous year's budget, remains almost the same at ₹3,146 crore, which is actually a huge decline if we factor in inflation.

Food subsidy, which was ₹2,72,802 crore in 2022–23, is 25 percent less at ₹2,05,250 crore in 2024–25. Similarly, Samagra Shiksha, which was ₹37,453 crore in 2023–24, is almost the same at ₹37,500 crore.

The allocation for Capacity Building and Skill Development in 2024–25 is exactly the same as the previous year at ₹538 crore.