Budget 2024: Meagre hike in funds for minority affairs

Ministry of Minority Affairs budget allocation for 2024-25 sees minor increase, with cuts in coaching and education schemes.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs has seen a mere 2.7% increase, from funds allocated in the previous year’s Budget Estimate (BE), for the financial year 2024-25 in the Union Budget presented on Tuesday. This allocation is around 22% of the Revised Estimate (RE), but monetary allocation in schemes like coaching and education loans have been slashed.

This year’s BE show that the Ministry is getting 0.07% of the government’s total outlay, which amounts to a mere 0.01% more than last year’s share of the total outlay.

Live updates from the Union Budget 2024-25 on July 23, 2024

The BE for the coaching and allied schemes for minorities has been slashed from ₹30 crore in 2023-24 to ₹10 crore in 2024-25. The RE for this scheme in 2023-24 was ₹14 crore. The BE for the interest subsidy on educational loans for overseas education for minorities has also been reduced from ₹21 crore to ₹15.30 crore. The RE for this scheme was ₹7 crore.

The BE for education scheme for Madrasas and Minorities has gone down from ₹10 cr in 2023-24 to ₹2 cr in 2024-25. The RE for this scheme in the previous financial year was ₹5 crore.

The BE for Pre-Matric Scholarship for Minorities, which was ₹433 crore in 2023-24 and was revised to ₹400 crore, stays at ₹326.16 for the ongoing financial year. However, the BE for the Post-Matric Scholarship for Minorities has seen an increase from ₹1,065 crore to ₹1,145.38 crore. The RE for this scheme last year was ₹1,000 crore.

The BE for development of minorities in Northeast areas this year is ₹318.70 crore as against ₹309.70 crore in the last financial year which was later revised to ₹261.44 crore.