In the pre-budget Economic Survey 2010-11, the Union finance ministry made a strong pitch for the pro-growth impact of investment in human capital adding, “fortunately, there is awareness of this in India and efforts are afoot in terms of budgetary allocation and actual initiatives to boost the development of skill and human capital.” Given this leading comment, it was only natural that Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee laid special emphasis...

Poor allocation of funds to key social sectors shows the government’s lacklustre approach to inclusive growth. We are reaching the end of a remarkable fiscal year,” said the finance minister as he rose to present the Union Budget 2011-12. Agreeing with the government that the year gone by presented us with several opportunities and challenges to address critical concerns pertaining to the social sector, the overall sense is that this Budget,...

Cash transfers, the latest global development fashion, involve several risks in India, not least the risk of forgetting the need for continuing structural change. WHEN I was growing up, several decades ago, middle-class society in India was always a little delayed in catching on to Western fashions whether in music or dress or in other aspects. The past decades of globalisation seemed to have changed all that. Modern communications technology...

The allocations earmarked for women as a proportion of the total Union budget outlay has gone up from 3% in 2007-08 (revised estimate) to 6.1% in 2010-11 (budget estimate) It will be seven years since the government, acknowledging a gender imbalance, introduced gender budgeting in 2005-06. Ever since then, the annual budget has been accompanied by a gender budgeting statement. An analysis of the last four Union budgets reveals two things....

When it came to power in May 2009, some ministers in the UPA government had set themselves a deadline of 100 days to show results. But one year and nine-odd months later, the report card of its flagship programmes in nine states hit by Maoism is dismal. Much of the money allocated has gone unspent, according to the “performance study” the Planning Commission conducted in these states and submitted to...