OneWorld.net (U.S.)

New Delhi – February 28 - Indian federal finance minister P Chidambaram today presented the General Budget 2005-06 in Parliament and said that it was aimed at combating poverty and helping the common man.

Releasing the ruling United Progressive Alliance’s second budget since it came to power last May, he reiterated the government's commitment to universal access to education, better healthcare and employment generation.

The spending on primary education has been increased to Rs 71.56 billion ($ 1.6 billion) and on health to Rs 102.8 billion ($ 2.35 billion).

A non-lapsable fund has been created for the primary education programme. Apart from increasing the allocation to Rs.7,156 crore ($ 1.6 billion) in 2005-06, the allocation for the mid-day meal scheme for schoolchildren has been increased in allocation from Rs.1,675 crore ($ 3.84 million) in 2004-05 to Rs.3,010 crore ($ 690 million) in 2005-06.

A National Rural Health Mission is to be launched in the next fiscal. It will focus on training of health volunteers, providing more medicines and strengthening the primary and community healthcare system. To meet the expenditure, the allocation for health and family welfare department has been enhanced from Rs 8,420 crore ($ 1.9 billion) in the current year to Rs 10,280 crore ($ 2.3 billion) in the ensuing financial year

Similarly, the government plans to launch the National Urban Renewal Mission to help large metros cope with the strain on the civic amenities caused by urbanisation and migration from rural areas. An outlay of Rs.5, 500 crore ($ 1.2 billion) in 2005-06 has been proposed for the mission.

All drinking water schemes have been clubbed under the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission. The focus would be on tackling water quality. The outlay of the mission is proposed to be increased from Rs. 3,000 crore ($ 685 million) in the current year to Rs 4,750 crore ($ 1 billion) in the next year.

The Total Sanitation Campaign, which operates in 452 districts, is being extended all over the country, and an allocation of Rs 630 crore ($ 144 million) has been proposed for the next year

The allocation for National Food for Work programme launched in November 2004 has been increased from Rs 4,020 crore ($ 922 million) in 2004-05 to Rs 11, 000 crore ($ 2.5 billion) in 2005-06. The programme will be converted into the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

The food processing, textile, irrigation and information technology sectors are expected to be employment generation hubs in the next five years. Irrigation facilities to10 million hectares of land over a period of five years is expected to generate employment for 10 million people and the textile sector is expected to create 12 million jobs over the next five years.