Font Size 
Budget speech 2006-07: Full text
Published on Wed, Jan 30, 2008 at 21:31, Updated at Fri, Feb 01, 2008 in section
Tags: Union Budget 2008, Fm Speech
Other stories in the section:
Sonia hints at more concessions for farmers
Farmers who have not benefited from Budget loan waiver will be considered.
Sarva Siksha Abhiyan
18. Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) has recorded remarkable progress in
2005-06 in terms of new schools, additional class rooms and additional teachers. Two independent surveys show that 93 per cent of the children in the age group 6-14 years are in school, and the number of children not in school has come down to about one crore. Recognizing good performance, I propose to increase the outlay for SSA from Rs.7,156 crore to Rs.10,041 crore in 2006-07. 500,000 additional class rooms will be constructed and 150,000 more teachers will be appointed.
19. In 2006-07, we shall transfer Rs.8,746 crore to the Prarambhik Siksha Kosh from the revenues raised through the education cess.
Mid-day Meal Scheme
20. 12 crore children are now covered under the Mid-day Meal Scheme, which is the largest school lunch programme in the world. I propose to enhance the allocation from Rs.3,010 crore to Rs.4,813 crore in 2006-07.
Drinking Water and Sanitation
21. The target for the current year for drinking water supply will be completed, and 56,270 habitations and 140,000 schools will be covered. Apart from non-coverage, there is the persistent problem of slippage. The strategy to tackle both includes conservation, better operational management, and water quality monitoring and capacity building at the village level. The Government will provide non-recurring assistance of Rs.213 crore in 2006-07 for setting up district-level water testing laboratories and field-level water testing kits. I propose to increase the provision for the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission from Rs.3,645 crore to Rs.4,680 crore next year.
22. I also propose to increase the provision for the Rural Sanitation Campaign from Rs.630 crore to Rs.720 crore in 2006-07.
National Rural Health Mission
23. The National Rural Health Mission was launched on April 12, 2005. I am confident that in 2006-07 more than 200,000 Associated Social Health Activists (ASHA) will be fully functional and over 1,000 block level community health centres will provide round the clock services. I have increased the allocation for NRHM from Rs.6,553 crore to Rs.8,207 crore for the next year.
24. The WHO standard defining ‘elimination of leprosy’ is one case per 10,000 population. I am happy to announce that the goal of eliminating leprosy was reached in December, 2005. Continuing the vigorous immunization programme, we hope to eliminate polio too from the country by December, 2007.
Integrated Child Development Services
25. We have expanded the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme and created an additional 188,168 centres. Supplementary nutrition is the most important component of the scheme. Beginning this year, the Centre is assisting the States to the extent of 50 per cent of the actual expenditure incurred for supplementary nutrition or 50 per cent of the cost norms, whichever is less. The cost to the Centre this year is estimated at Rs.1,500 crore, and I propose to increase this assistance to Rs.1,700 crore for 2006-07. The total allocation for ICDS is being increased from Rs.3,315 crore to Rs.4,087 crore.
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
26. I have already referred to the Rural Employment scheme which is
the primary instrument to combat rural unemployment and hunger poverty. For 2006-07, the total allocation for rural employment will be Rs.14,300 crore. Of this, Rs.11,300 crore (including NER component) will be under the NREG Act and Rs.3,000 crore (including NER component) will be under SGRY. Since there is a legal guarantee of employment under the NREG Act, more funds will be provided according to need.
More Headlines from
| Related links: | |
Total Comments: 0
Read Comment | Post Comment
Be the first to comment.