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.
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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 | |
| 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 | 1a |
a “Funds will be made available through PPP mode under the National Health Mission, to provide dialysis services in all district hospitals.”
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The 2016-17 budget also continues the long-standing trend of ignoring the social sector at the expense of defence:
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.
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