COVER HINDI - Ministry of Women and Child Development

7.29 As shown in Chart 3 above, within the Child Budget
at the level of Union Government, Child Education has
the major chunk of resources meant for children. This has
meant that the other needs of children, in the domains of
early childhood care and development, health, and
protection have been neglected in Union Budgets. The
outlays for both Child Development and Child Health as
a proportion of total Union Budget have improved over
2001-02 to 2006-07; however, the same for Child
Protection has increased only marginally between
2001-02 to 2006-07. The very low magnitude of outlays
for Child Protection in the Union Budgets raises major
concerns about policymaking for protection of children in
the country who are in difficult circumstances. Hence, the
Union Government needs to step up its priorities for child
specific programmes/ schemes in general, and for those
relating to Child Protection, Child Health and Child
Development, in particular. These figures make a strong
case for greater priorities for children in public spending
in the country.
Child Budgeting: Translating Outlays into Outcomes 127