What One Chart and One Table of Budget Keywords Tell Us About Official Priorities

The latest Budget speech perpetuates a chronic blindness to basic social needs. Children are not mentioned at all and nor are (say) nutrition, social security or maternity entitlements.

Jean Drèze

Reetika Khera

The latest Budget speech perpetuates a chronic blindness to basic social needs. Children are not mentioned at all and nor are (say) nutrition, social security or maternity entitlements.

what one chart and one table of budget keywords tell us about official priorities

Credit: Shome Basu

The latest Budget speech perpetuates a chronic blindness to basic social needs. Children are not mentioned at all and nor are (say) nutrition, social security or maternity entitlements.

Keyword	Number of citations
Keyword	2014	2016
Investment	34	23
Growth	31	20
NREGA/employment guarantee	2	1
Nutrition	2	0
Social security	1	0
Children	0	0
Integrated Child Development Services	0	0
Midday meals/school meals	0	0
Maternity/maternity entitlements	0	0
National food security act	0	0
Pensions (other than organized sector)	0	0
National Health Mission	0	1^a

^a “Funds will be made available through PPP mode under the National Health Mission, to provide dialysis services in all district hospitals.”

The 2016-17 budget also continues the long-standing trend of ignoring the social sector at the expense of defence:

Defence Expenditure vs Spending on the Social Sector (in crores of rupees)

This article went live on February twenty-ninth, two thousand sixteen, at forty-seven minutes past four in the afternoon.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.