COVER HINDI - Ministry of Women and Child Development

Child Budgeting:
CHAPTER-7
Translating Outlays into Outcomes
7.1 In its Annual Reports of 2002-03 and 2004-05, the
Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) had
undertaken a series of analyses on ‘Child Budgeting’. In
2004-05, the Ministry’s Annual Report had noted that
budget outlays by the Union Government and States on
children’s issues showed an increased commitment
although actual expenditures ‘may however fall short of
budgets for reasons like lack of capacity to spend/ absorb
funds, procedural delays, slackness in implementation’.
The Ministry took forward this analytical work and
commitment in several ways. In October 2005, it held a
one-day workshop in New Delhi inviting officials
representing Finance and Women and Child Development
Departments from the States. This workshop had focused
on the importance of ‘Child Budgeting’ and provided the
framework for analysis for States to follow. In particular,
the workshop had highlighted the gaps between outlays
for children and the outcomes that are arising in relation
to key child-related indicators: mortality, nutrition, and
education, amongst others.
7.2 Analysis of the outlays made in the budget and the
actual expenditures incurred subsequently on different
sectors/ programmes/ schemes point to the priorities of
the government. It must be noted here that better outcomes
in any sector, for instance, in education, health or nutrition,
depend not just on the outlays but also on proper utilization
of those outlays. In India, there are many non-financial
constraints that impede progress in several sectors,
especially in the social sectors. However, financial
constraints could pose serious challenges to developments
in the social sectors, and hence the focus on identifying
such constraints and advocating for their removal should
be emphasized. The National Common Minimum Program
(NCMP) had reiterated the present Union Government’s
commitment to rapid economic growth and targeted
investments aimed at the marginalised sections of
population. The NCMP had outlined important targets
related to public spending on key services, including the
following: total public spending on education to be raised
to 6% of GDP- with at least half to be spent on primary
and secondary education, total public spending on health
to be raised to at least 2% - 3% of GDP- focusing mainly
on primary health care, by 2009-10.
Challenges in the Social Sector
7.3 Significant results have been achieved for children
and women in India over the past decade in pursuit of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There have also
been several important policy developments. However,
many trends in key human development indicators must
accelerate if the national development targets – which are
in line with and at times more ambitious than the MDGs –
are to be met.
Box1:
Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07) Goals for Women
and Children
The Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07) had set the
following goals and targets for women and children.
­ all children in school by 2003; all children to
complete five years of schooling by 2007
­ reduction in gender gaps in literacy and wage rates
by at least 50 percent by 2007
­ reduction in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) to 45 per
1000 live births by 2007 and 28 by 2012
­ Reduction of Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) to
2 per 1000 live births by 2007 and to 1 per 1000
live births by 2012
Other notable objectives are:
­ to arrest the decline in the child sex ratio
­ increasing representation of women in premier
services and in Parliament
­ Universalisation of the Integrated Child
Development Services (ICDS) scheme
Child Budgeting: Translating Outlays into Outcomes 119