The funding allocation gap in some key welfare schemes has revealed a disconnect between the government's lofty promises and their outcome, an analysis of official data on budget estimates (BE) and revised estimates (RE) shows.

The BE is the initial projection of revenues and expenses for a financial year. The RE is an updated, mid-year adjustment to the BE based on actual spending data and current economic realities.

In the Union Budget 2026-27, the Centre has allocated ₹54,927 crore for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Grameen (PMAY-G), a housing scheme for the rural poor. The government had allocated over ₹50,000 crore for this scheme each year for the preceding three fiscals, only to shave off nearly 40 per cent of the allocations in the RE. (See chart)

The Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide piped drinking water to every rural household, presents a similar picture. The scheme was allocated ₹66,770 crore in the BE for 2025-26. The amount, however, plummeted to ₹16,944 crore in the RE, a reduction of nearly 75 per cent. In 2023-24, the scheme was allocated ₹70,162 crore, but the amount was reduced to ₹22,694 crore in the RE. The allocation for 2026-27 stands at ₹67,363 crore.

The allocation for Samagra Shiksha, a flagship scheme under which states receive financial assistance to implement the Right to Education (RTE) Act, has also declined from ₹41,250 crore for 2025-26 to ₹38,000 crore. For 2026-27, the government has proposed an allocation of ₹42,100 crore.

The gap in allocation for three years from 2023-24 is also glaring in the PM POSHAN scheme and the PM-Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA). The PM POSHAN scheme feeds over 11 crore children in over 10 lakh government- and aided schools in the country. Under the PM-USHA scheme, state-run higher educational institutions are provided funds for infrastructure development.

Going by the data, policy experts appeared sceptical about the increase in allocations for social sector schemes in the 2026-27 budget over the previous fiscal.

The government on Sunday proposed to set aside ₹139,289 crore for the education ministry for 2026-27, an increase of 8.17 per cent from the BE of 2025-26. The department of school education and literacy (DoSEL) was allocated ₹83,562 crore, up from ₹78,571 crore in 2025-26.

Ashok Agrawal, president of the All India Parents' Association, accused the government of neglecting public education and public health.

“The government’s own data shows public-funded schools are being shut down and enrolment is declining. It is mainly because the government is not recruiting teachers or upgrading infrastructure. Parents in rural areas are sending their children to private schools. The government is making higher allocations and slashing them in the revised budget deliberately to create an impression that it is concerned about public welfare, which is not the case,” Agrawal said.

In the last 10 years, nearly one lakh government schools have been shut down in the country, he said.

Mitra Ranjan, the coordinator of the Right to Education Forum, said the DoSEL was allocated ₹73,008 crore in the budget for 2024-25, while the actual spending stood at ₹65,159 crore. “Our education infrastructure is not up to mark. Enhancing budget allocation is needed to create a strong public education system and to fight entrenched inequalities in the education system. But the school and higher education outlay constitutes only 2.6 per cent of the budget and as low as 0.36 per cent of the country's GDP for 2026-27,” he said.