Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the general Budget of 2020-21 on February 1. Presenting the earlier Budget on July 2019, Nirmala Sitharaman had said: “Mahatma Gandhi had said that India’s soul dwells in its villages. The village, poor and farmers form the focal point of our government too.”
It is also vital to have villages as the focal point of the government because there are about 6.28 lakh villages in India. These villages form about 70 per cent of India’s population. So, Gaon Connection conveys the expectations of the villagers from the Budget of 2020. In her speech, the finance minister had specifically mentioned the Ujjwala Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Har Ghar Nal (every household to have tap for water) scheme. We have sought the opinion of the villagers on these schemes.
The need for a house
This is a matter of the month of 2019. In Uttar Pradesh, a seven-year-old child was killed due to snakebite in a rundown mud house of Lalparpur village of Hardoi district. The house belonged to rickshaw driver Puttanlal, who lived in it somehow, with his children. When the child was bitten by the snake and the news came to the media, he was hurriedly provided a residence.
This story is not of one village — every village has people like Puttanlal who are forced to live in battered mud houses. Presenting the Budget in July 2019, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that 1.95 crore houses will be provided to eligible beneficiaries during 2019-20 and 2020-21 in the second phase of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin. Electricity, LPG connections and toilets will be provided in these houses.
The government’s efforts on housing are also actually visible in reality. Many people in the villages have received government aid for housing. But it is also a fact that many deserving people have been unable to come under its ambit. In this regard, Dilip Tripathi, pradhan of the Gram Panchayat Hasudi Osanpur in Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, said: “The assistance for housing is being given as per the 2011 census, but since then, the situation has changed a lot. As households have been split, new families have been created. These are not mentioned in the 2011 census. A new survey has been conducted on behalf of the government, but the names have not yet been uploaded according to that survey. Housing given on the basis of that survey will benefit more eligible people.”
One more problem has surfaced in the housing scheme. The amount of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is given in three instalments. So, if the beneficiary gets an assistance of Rs 1.20 lakh, it reaches the beneficiary’s bank account in three instalments. However, it is often observed that after the first instalment, the second and third instalments are paid with substantial delays.
About the delayed instalments in the bank account, Rajesh Krishnan, who lives in the village of Wayanad, Kerala, explained: “It is very common. After the first kit comes, people have to wait long for the second and third instalments. Lot of money is spent in building houses. When the house construction begins, it will take money, but when the instalments are delayed, it affects us directly. First, the houses remain unfinished; secondly, if a house is built well, it uses up all our savings too. It would be good if the government focuses on providing timely instalments.”
Another issue is that most of the eligible people from poorer sections find the housing aid provided by the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to be inadequate because their own income is not sufficient to build a house by adding something to the aid out of their savings. People of such sections demand further enhancement of assistance. Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Rs 1.20 lakh is given to beneficiaries of general districts and Rs 1.30 lakh in Naxal-affected districts. Also, Rs 12,000 are given for in house toilets per accommodation.
Sushila Bharti, who belongs to the poorer section, is a resident of Bampali village in Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh. “Our family’s income is close to Rs 5,000 in a month,” said Sushila. “We live off this income that we earn as workers. Though our name came in the housing scheme, the money we got is very little. The first instalment was spent in the construction of the plinth. There is no further development since then. It would be good for us if the government increases the money,” she added.
Water shortage
“We have to bring water from one kilometre away due to which we get late for school every day. The water has to be fetched twice a day,” said Mohit, who lived in Chakraghunathpur village of Vidisha district in Madhya Pradesh, sitting amid several huge yellow cans.
Mohit studies in Class 7th, but he has to work more towards transporting water than studying. Like him, other children in his village are never able to attend school on time, because they also have to carry water-filled can to their houses.
This story is not just of Mohit or of other boys in his village — close to 60 crore people in India are currently reeling under the worst water crisis in history. According to the 2011 census, seven crore households are only getting treated water out of 24 crore households in the country while 70 per cent of the families are getting contaminated water.
While presenting the Budget for 2019-20, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her speech: “Ensuring India’s water security and providing access to safe and adequate drinking water to all Indians is a priority of the government.” In view of this, the government has set up a Ministry of Water Resources (constitution of the Jal Shakti Mantralaya) and has also planned to provide water from village to village, house-to-house taps.
The Union Ministry of Water Resources has a total Budget of Rs 8,245.25 crore for 2019-20. The capital for spending on infrastructure is Rs 391.47 crore while Rs 7,853.78 crore is kept as revenue. In addition, the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation, which falls under the Union Ministry of Water Power has a total provision of Rs 2,0016.34 crore in the budget as compared to a revised Budget of Rs 19,992.97 crore in the last financial year.
Through all these efforts, it is the endeavour of the government to provide tap water to every house in the country by 2024. But the question is — where will the clean water come from through these taps? In the last Budget, nothing was specified about it. The question is also important because according to the India Water Portal, water is becoming alarmingly scarce in 50 per cent of India’s urban and 85 per cent of rural areas. Out of 3,400 development blocks, it was observed that more than 85% of the water is already used up in 449 development blocks. In most of the states, the groundwater level has gone down by 10 to 50 metres.
“The hand pump is giving out yellow water,” said Sunita, a resident of Sarura village of Binauli block in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh.” This situation has remained not from today but for the past few years. Every tap in the village has similar water coming from it. The pradhan is saying that there will be a tank in the village, but when it will happen is not known.” Like Sunita, a large population in our country lives in the hope of safe and adequate water.
The expansion of Pradhan Mantri Ujjawla Yojana
The Modi government’s Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has been very successful and popular in the country. The scheme has benefited the women from the poorer sections of society. Under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana, the government has set a target of providing 8 crore gas connections by 2020. According to a recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), oil marketing companies had provided 7.19 crore LPG connections till March 31, 2019, which is about 90 per cent of the government’s target of providing 8 crore connections by March 2020.
The government may plan to carry forward the scheme in this time’s Budget. However, the CAG report has brought out that those who have received LPG gas connections under the PMUY are not regularly refilling their cylinders. The report says that there are about 56 lakh (17.61 per cent) beneficiaries who had completed one year or more by December 31, 2018, and did not fill the cylinder for the second time.
One of the major reasons behind not filling the cylinder is the price of the cylinder. How do the people of the poorer sections, struggling to feed themselves, fill the cylinders? Sushila is a housewife living in Cheda village in Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh, whose husband is a labourer earning Rs 200 to 250 a day and that too when he manages to find some work. “There is a family six people dependent on a man’s earnings,” said Sushila. “Now one may either eat or fill the cylinder in this earning.”
Talking about the price of gas cylinders, the price of domestic cylinders has increased by more than 30% since the inception of the Ujjwala Yojana. In May 2016, the price of non-subsidized domestic cylinder (14.2 kg) was close to Rs 550. In December 2019, the price of domestic cylinder was close to Rs 750. From May 2016 to December 2019, non-subsidized domestic cylinder prices have gone up by 30.76%.
Subsidy is extended on domestic gas cylinders by the government. An additional subsidy of Rs 20 is provided to the consumers of the Ujjwala Yojana as compared to other consumers. For example, the price of non-subsidized domestic cylinder in Delhi is Rs 714 on which a subsidy Rs 179 is given to the subscribers of Ujjwala Yojana and Rs 158 subsidy is given to other consumers. For 14.2 kg cylinders, the Ujjwala scheme consumers are to pay Rs 535 and other consumers Rs 556.
The cylinder of the Ujjwala Yojana is also lying unfilled in the house of Pramila, a village in Barabanki. “We have a family of 20 people,” she said. “The gas in the cylinder does not run even for 15 days. If Rs 700-800 are to be spent every month for refilling it, what will you eat? The wood is easily available so we continue to cook on it.” Showing the cylinder in the house, Pramila added: “If I had money, I would have definitely refilled it for the smoke from the wood makes my eyes burn.”
It is clear that if Pramila had money or the price of domestic cylinders under Ujjwala Yojana were somewhat lower; many families would be benefitted. The scheme may be extended in the coming Budget. However, it will truly benefit many more poor families if the gas subsidy to the beneficiaries is enhanced.
