Shillong, January 28: The Budget for Children (BfC) is an attempt to separate the allocation made for all programmes and schemes that benefit the children in a country or a state from the total Union or state budget. It seeks to monitor the extent to which the promises made by the Government are translated into policies and programmes that protect the rights and welfare of children. Governments are obliged to fulfill the rights of children mainly through the implementation of budgetary measures.
This study being released in the context of the Government of India undertaking child budgeting since 2003 and decided to include a separate statement for children (Statement 22) in its Expenditure Budget. Indeed, India is one of the few countries in the world to have accorded this recognition to children.
Also, it is in the backdrop of a significant move towards the recognition of importance of budgeting for children, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child adopted General Comment No. 19 (2016) on public budgeting for the realization of children’s rights (Art. 4) to “assist States parties in the implementation of article 4 in relation to public budgets. It identifies States parties’ obligations and makes recommendations on how to realize all the rights under the Convention, especially those of children in vulnerable situations, through effective, efficient, equitable, transparent and sustainable public budget decision-making.”
The average allocation for children over the last five years (2012-13 to 2016- 17) has been Rs.6 and 14 paise in every Rupees 100 in the state budget of Meghalaya. While the Budget for Children which was showing a steady increase till 2014- 15 suddenly fell in 2015-16 (from 9.51 per cent to 4.69 per cent, falling further to 4.25 per cent in 2016-17). This fall coincides with the implementation of the 14th Finance Commission Report on Fiscal Federalism. That raises concerns about the priority given to children in the Budget in the context of devolution.
What is even greater concern is the non-utilisation of the allocated funds in all the 3 years for which the actual expenditure is available. It was as high as over 56 % in 2014-15, the same year in which the allocations fell. In 2013-14, as much as 42% of the allocations remained unutilised. Such a trend of under-spending raises serious questions about the implementation of schemes and programmes meant for the welfare of children.The highest under-spending is in the child development sector, which can be traced to the non-utilisation of allocations in the ICDS, followed by the schemes in the education sector.
These Recommendations to the State Government,Increase Allocation of Funds for Children in State Budget: Nearly half of Meghalaya population is below 18 years of age. The average of 6.25% allocation in niggardly on the part of the State Government. Increase the allocation to at least 15% of the State Budget.
The recommendation made to the state government, are to increased Allocation for Health and Protection Sector, Health and Protection sectors need higher allocation of funds given the pathetic health status and increasing vulnerability of children in Meghalaya.
Tackle Underspending: There is massive underspending of funds allocated for child-related schemes. Increase supervision and better monitoring to ensure efficient use of funds. Financial Stability: The state mainly depends on central funds due to the limitation of its own financial resources. So a constant flow of fund from the central government is most essential. The state must explore all possible sources to generate additional revenue which will facilitate in maintaining fiscal, social and economic stability.
This is the first ever trend analysis of the BfC in Meghalaya and throws a spot light on the allocations and spending for children in the state in the light of its indicators and outcomes . This report coincides with the changes being witnessed in the context of the 14th Finance Commission recommendations.
What is clear is that with the fiscal devolution taking place as per the recommendations, the greater burden of raising resources for children is shifting to the states, which has led to fall in allocations in most of the schemes in health and education sectors, especially under the central share.
What is more disturbing is that in the absence of constant monitoring and a watchful eye, children will fall through the cracks. Perhaps this is the time to take the example of Statement 22 of the national budget and introduce a separate statement for children in Meghalaya state. This will enable the state government to keep the focus on children, bring all departments on board and track progress. The General Comment No. 19 (2016) on Public Budgeting for the Realization of Children’s Rights (Article. 4) of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child developed to guide the governments across the world, can be a very useful guideline.
The key principle for budgeting for children is non-retrogression in budgeting – which means that whatever the circumstances, including economic crisis, the budget lines for children will be maintained and there will be no cut-backs. After all the needs of the children need to be addressed today and they cannot wait.
