Budget 2025-26: A Vision for Viksit Bharat – What Does It Offer for the Children of the North East, Especially Manipur?

By: Satya Gopal Dey
“Investing in children is not just a moral responsibility but a strategic necessity for the nation’s future. A budget that prioritizes children is, in fact, laying the foundation for a stronger society,” stated Keisam Pradip Kumar, Chairperson, Manipur Commission for Protection of Child Rights, while welcoming and reacting on the Budget for Children 2025-26.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has presented the second budget of the NDA government in its third term, a moment that typically draws attention to tax deductions and relief measures for the middle class. However, beyond these much-anticipated announcements, it is crucial to examine the broader priorities and thematic focus of the budget, which lays down the roadmap for the vision of Viksit Bharat.
The Budget 2025-26 reflects a comprehensive development strategy centered around four key pillars—Garib (the poor), Yuva (youth), Annadata (farmers), and Nari (women)—underscoring an inclusive growth framework. It envisions a future where poverty is eradicated, ensuring social security and economic stability for all. Universal access to quality education becomes a reality, equipping future generations with knowledge and skills to contribute meaningfully to the nation’s progress. High-quality, affordable, and comprehensive healthcare is prioritized, making well-being a fundamental right rather than a privilege. The workforce is fully skilled, engaged in meaningful employment that drives economic growth and innovation. Women participate in economic activities at an unprecedented scale, fostering a more equitable society. Farmers, the backbone of the country, are empowered to transform India into the ‘food basket of the world,’ ensuring sustainability and self-sufficiency in agriculture.
The great Telugu poet and playwright Gurajada Appa Rao once wrote, “Desamante Matti Kaadoi, Desamante Manushuloi,” meaning, “A country is not just its soil; a country is its people.” In line with this philosophy, the essence of Viksit Bharat extends beyond infrastructure and economic indicators to the well-being of its citizens. The success of this vision will depend on how effectively these aspirations translate into actionable policies and tangible outcomes. As the nation moves forward, the challenge lies in bridging the gap between vision and execution, ensuring that growth is not just measured in numbers but reflected in the lives of its people.
An analysis by HAQ Centre for Child Rights highlights that while the overall distribution of financial resources for the Budget for Children 2025-26 remains largely unchanged from FY 2024-25, there are notable shifts in allocations for key flagship schemes. Some centrally funded programs, which rely entirely on the Union Government’s financial provisions, have seen a reduction in allocations. For instance, the National Means Cum Merit Scholarship Scheme, Manufacture of Sera and BCG Vaccine, and Post Matric Scholarship (under the Ministry of Minority Affairs) have all faced budget cuts in 2025-26.
At the same time, several other flagship schemes have received significant increases in allocations, which must be acknowledged as a positive development. While the reduction in funding for critical child welfare programs raises concerns, the enhanced allocations in certain areas indicate a step in the right direction. A deeper examination of these shifts is necessary to assess the long-term impact on children’s education, health, and overall well-being.
In the Union Budget 2025-26, the education sector continues to receive the highest share of financial allocations for children, accounting for 1.77% of total budgetary resources. However, Child Protection, despite being a pressing concern, remains the least prioritized, with a meager 0.04% of the total budget allocation.
While there has been a notable increase in funding for Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0—a key initiative aimed at improving child nutrition—the overall allocation for the child development sector stands at only 0.38% of the total budget. Meanwhile, child health schemes have seen little to no change compared to the previous year, raising concerns about the adequacy of financial support for critical healthcare services for children.
These figures underscore the need for a more balanced approach to child welfare spending, ensuring that protection, healthcare, and development receive the attention and resources they deserve alongside education.
Education continues to be a key priority in the Union Budget 2025-26, with a total allocation of Rs. 89,420.84 crore, marking a 5.16% increase from the previous year. Among the flagship initiatives, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, which plays a crucial role in implementing the Right to Education Act (2009), has received an allocation of Rs. 41,250 crore—a 10% increase compared to FY 2024-25.
While this increase is a welcome step, concerns remain over whether the allocated funds are sufficient to address the existing challenges in the education sector. The recent ASER survey has highlighted persistent gaps in learning outcomes and foundational literacy, raising questions about the effectiveness of resource utilization. Strengthening implementation strategies and ensuring better fund allocation will be crucial in improving the quality of education in India.
The PM POSHAN Scheme, previously known as the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, was launched to provide one hot cooked meal to children in government and government-aided schools from 2021-22 to 2025-26. This centrally sponsored initiative covers approximately 11.80 crore children across 11.20 lakh schools in India. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, had approved its continuation with a five-year financial outlay of Rs. 1,30,794.90 crore, comprising Rs. 54,061.73 crore from the Central Government, Rs. 31,733.17 crore from State Governments & UT administrations, and an additional Rs. 45,000 crore for food grains.
Despite the scheme’s critical role in addressing child nutrition, its allocation in the FY 2025-26 has barely increased by 0.26%, rising from Rs. 12,467.39 crore in FY 2024-25 to Rs. 12,500 crore. This sluggish growth contradicts the vision and objectives of the scheme. In FY 2021-22, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of India (GoI) had increased PM POSHAN allocations to Rs. 12,700 crore from Rs. 11,500 crore in the Budget Estimates (BE). However, the Revised Estimates (RE) for that year fell to Rs. 10,234 crore, marking a 19% reduction from the initial proposal.
As India moves toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the allocations for PM POSHAN in FY 2025-26 remain lower than those in FY 2021-22. These fluctuations in budgetary allocations raise serious concerns about the government’s planning process, as they fail to align with the ground realities of child malnutrition and the scheme’s core objectives.
The child development sector, which includes key nutrition-focused schemes, has been allocated Rs. 19,216.08 crore in FY 2025-26, reflecting a marginal 3.1% increase from FY 2024-25. This increase is primarily due to higher allocations for the Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 scheme, which has received Rs. 18,666 crore this year.
While any increase in funding for child nutrition is a positive step, the slow pace of growth raises concerns about whether these schemes are receiving adequate financial support to effectively combat child malnutrition and stunting—issues that continue to persist across the country. Strengthened investment and implementation strategies are necessary to ensure better outcomes for children’s health and overall development.
The child protection sector remains one of the least prioritized areas in financial allocations, receiving only 0.04% of the total Union Budget 2025-26. The absolute allocation stands at Rs. 1,822.45 crore, marking a mere 1.3% increase from the previous year’s budget of Rs. 1,792.85 crore at the Budget Estimate (BE) stage. This stagnation in funding raises serious concerns about the government’s commitment to safeguarding vulnerable children.
A particularly alarming development is the discontinuation of the National Child Labour Programme (NCLP) in the 2025-26 Budget. The programme, which had a BE of Rs. 200 crore in 2013-14, experienced drastic fluctuations over the years, dropping to zero in 2019-20 and receiving only minimal allocations thereafter. India remains home to over 1.01 crore working children aged 5 to 14 years, as per the 2011 Census, with Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra accounting for over half of the country’s child labour force. While child labour showed a declining trend between 2001 and 2011, it is now more visible in rural areas due to migration, and urban child labour may have increased across sectors in the aftermath of the economic distress caused by COVID-19. The merging of NCLP with Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan was originally intended to strengthen efforts to eradicate child labour, but the scheme’s complete discontinuation threatens to undo years of progress in protecting children from exploitative labour conditions.
Mission Vatsalya, the flagship scheme for child protection, has received Rs. 1,500 crore in FY 2025-26, reflecting a meager 1.89% increase from the previous year. This allocation is concerning, especially considering that the erstwhile Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS)—which was later merged into Mission Vatsalya—had already received Rs. 1,500 crore in FY 2020-21. Despite the revision of cost norms in 2024, which necessitates higher financial commitments, the budget allocation remains unchanged.
Without substantial financial backing, critical child protection services—including shelter homes, rehabilitation programs, and legal aid for children in distress—will continue to face severe resource constraints. The government’s failure to significantly enhance child protection funding indicates a growing policy gap, jeopardizing the rights and safety of millions of vulnerable children across India.
Keisam Pradip Kumar, Chairperson of the Manipur Commission for Protection of Child Rights, emphasized the need for specific allocations to address the unique challenges faced by children in Manipur. “While the budget lays a foundation for child welfare, it is imperative that focused financial commitments are made for the children of Manipur, ensuring that no child is left behind in the journey towards Viksit Bharat,” he stated.
[The Author is a Journalist and Development Professional ( [email protected])]