Budget 2021 is a mixed bag, with many causes for alarm

First, there are some very good things about the Budget. Budget 2021 allows for over Rs 60,030 crore for drinking water (up from Rs 17,024 crore last year). Great!

The allocation for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) has also swelled from Rs 5,604 crore to Rs 15,629 crore. After all, this sector is the largest employer and wealth generator in India.

The reduction of import duties on gold (from 12.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent) was long overdue. Not bad!

The focused approach towards disinvestment is another commendable move.

And it is good that the government has finally accepted the policy for scrapping vehicles (a variant of the US government’s cash-for-clunkers scheme). It was pending since 2016, when Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Transport backed it.

And yes, infrastructure. The ministry of road transport and Railways saw allocations go up from Rs 101,823 crore last year to Rs 118,101crore (16 per cent) this year.

But the list of failings is longer. Here, we focus on education and health. Other issues will be in articles that shall be posted online.

Education

India’s scores on PISA, QS and rankings remain abysmally poor. Ditto with the Human Capital Index. True, the department of agricultural research and education saw its funds allocation go up from Rs. 7,762 crore last year to Rs. 8,514 crore (barely a 10 per cent increase). The department of schools and literacy saw allocations go up from Rs 52,189 crore to Rs 54,874 (just 5 per cent). Higher education got a better deal, with allocations climbing from Rs 32,900 crore to Rs 38,351 crore (17 per cent). However, only Rs 25.5 crore (7 per cent) is meant for capital expenditure. In other words, even higher education did not get much.

In fact, primary education should have got more. The numbers are larger and the need greater. Pratham’s findings show that, in 2018, only 44.2 per cent of the boys in Std V could read the books meant for Std II. Obviously, if the quality of school students is poor, the contamination of colleges and universities is inevitable. Much of the money allocated for higher education will get wasted.

In fact, improving school education does not even require allocation of funds. It only needs a

Budget provision that all tax exemptions and other Centrally administered fiscal benefits will stand withdrawn if outcomes of students at the end of each academic year are poor. Let states decide how to measure outcomes. The Centre should have a qualifying examination at the end of Classes V and VIII.

That will make managements ensure better selection and retention of teachers. The quality of school education will improve. If a school consistently fails in improving outcomes (say for three years), the school itself – along with all its assets and students – should be taken away from the inept management and handed over to another management that has consistently performed well on outcomes. That will allow the quality of education management to improve dramatically.

That alone will help improve India’s PISA and QS scores.

Health

A similar lack of vision is visible in the government’s approach towards health.

The Department of Health and Family Welfare saw its allocations decrease from Rs 78,866 crore last year to Rs 71,269 crore (-9.6 per cent) this year. Capital expenditure declined even more sharply, from Rs 4,234 crore to Rs 2,509 crore (a worrying -60 per cent).

Similarly, the department of health research similarly saw its funds slashed, from Rs 4,062 crore to Rs 2,663 crore (-34 per cent).

Only the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) got more funds -- up from Rs 2,322 crore last year to Rs. 2,970 crore this year (28 per cent). So why doesn’t the government make treatment of all government employees at Ayurveda and similar hospitals henceforth?

Health management can actually improve without much money. Budgetary provisions -- of tax exemptions and waivers only for private parties building a minimum of 10 floors on existing government hospitals -- should suffice.

All government hospitals have land. Persuade state governments to allow them additional FSI of at least additional 10 floors. Let the private sector use the FSI and the land -- free of cost. Get suppliers of medical equipment to extend generous financial packages for easy lease rental for such machines.

Cross subsidy of 40 per cent needy patients is possible by charging the remaining 60 per cent of the patients. Thus, private parties will make money, the long queue of patients standing in undignified misery will disappear. Healthcare facilities will come up at cheaper costs if this approach is adopted.

Simultaneously, increase the number of medical seats – and seats for nursing and paramedics -- so that the numbers double each year for the next five years. That will ensure that the black market in medical education vanishes.

India could begin attracting students from overseas and earn precious foreign exchange. Moreover, every foreign student is like a long-stay tourist, who also contributes to the rest of the economy. India benefits. Blackmarketeers lose.

Handled well, this could allow medical tourism to flourish as well.

One more thing – if India produces more doctors and nurses than the domestic demand, they can become part of India’s manpower exports which bring in remittances.

People forget that ‘Atma Nirbhar’ is only a slogan without education and health.