New Delhi: Increase in the allocation of funds for education and health as well as social security for the unorganised sector – these are some of the demands nearly 300 NGOs have made to the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee before he presents the Union Budget on July 6.
The charter of demands compiled by the Centre for Budget and Governance accountability covers 10 sectors, including rural development, agriculture, minority affairs, women, children, health, education and social security.
One of the demands put forth in the charter titled “People’s Budget Initiative” is that the total fund allocation for health should be increased to three per cent of the gross domestic product and that for education should be increased to six per cent.
The charter also demands an enabling legislation to provide social security as a right justifiable in court and creation of a national social security fund and national social security board for the unorganised sector.
Expanding the domain of the ministry for minority affairs so as to include issues like livelihood and employment, and addressing women’s and children’s issues not just through the women and child development ministry but other ministries too, are some of the other demands in the charter.
The charter, released across the country, mainly aims to convince the government that the social sector needs more investment.
CEO of international social organisation Oxfam India,Nisha Agarwal said, “This endeavor is to unravel the complexities around budgets and make them understandable to the lay audience. We believe the marginalised matter and seek to redress the balance, which we find at the moment tilted heavily in favour of the socio-economic elite.”
“Another motivation that drives our efforts is to keep up the momentum of scrutinising the policy priorities beyond the short period, which lasts around the time the union budget is presented,” she added.
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