List of ministries who spent below 30% of their budget by end-September could show the centre’s priorities, or the lack of them Manas Chakravarty
A report that the Union government has slashed an already-low health budget has generated a lot of heat. But what are the other ministries that have seen lower spending? The chart lists ministries that, as at the end of September, had spent less than 30% of their expenditure budgets. The list could be interpreted in two ways. One, it shows the priorities, or lack of them, of the government; or more charitably, the ministries that have spent the least will make up for it in the second half of the fiscal year. Note that in spite of all the talk about Swachh Bharat, the ministry of drinking water and sanitation had spent just 29% of its plan budget in the first six months of the fiscal year.
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