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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Budget 2012: Jairam Ramesh seeks Rs 20,000 crore for sanitation programmes

Budget 2012: Jairam Ramesh seeks Rs 20,000 crore for sanitation programmes

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published Published on Feb 11, 2012   modified Modified on Feb 11, 2012

Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh is seeking doubling of funds for water supply and sanitation programmes to Rs 20,000 crore in the upcoming budget, arguing that it is high time the Centre focused on this neglected sector. 

Ramesh, who holds the additional charge of the ministry of drinking water and sanitation, has indicated that he is unwilling to settle for anything short of Rs 16,000 crore. The finance ministry has, so far, agreed to raise allocations to Rs 12,000 crore, a fifth more than the funds provided for the current fiscal. 

After revamping almost every scheme administered by the rural development ministry, Ramesh has proposed that the government should drastically increase allocations for water supply and sanitation even if it does not provide more funds for the other schemes under his charge due to resource crunch. 

"I do not care if they do not give more money under any other scheme," the minister told ET. "Water and sanitation have been grossly neglected and the primary reason is underfunding. I am going to put up a strong resistance if the funding is not increased substantially." 

Last month, the minister had made fervent pleas to planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to channelise more resources towards these schemes. "A paradigm shift in focus and attention is needed on the part of my ministry and the government as a whole," he said. 

A report by UNICEF and WHO has revealed that 60% of India's population still practises open defecation. Further, according to the World Bank, inadequate sanitation had shaved off about 6.4% of India's GDP in 2006 due to its adverse impact on health. 

While the rural development ministry, with an overall allocation of 90,000 crore, has the highest spending after defence ministry, the expenditure is concentrated on a few big schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). 

Ramesh is also pushing for an 11% increase in allocation for the PMGSY, which helps increase rural connectivity. His ministry is seeking a higher share of cess on diesel. Currently, it gets 50% of the cess, which accounts for Rs 5,500 towards PMGSY.

The Economic Times, 11 February, 2012, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/budget-2012-jairam-ramesh-seeks-rs-20000-crore-for-sanitation-programmes/articleshow/11843479.cms


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