Hyderabad: Students' Body Slams Nutrition Deficit Budget

Hyderabad: The Students' Federation of India (SFI) has condemned the 2024-25 Union Budget alleging the Centre failed to address critical issues affecting India's children. Despite 36 per cent of children being stunted and 32 per cent underweight, the Budget did not prioritise necessary interventions.

The SFI highlighted a 1.5 per cent cut in the Anganwadi programme budget, reducing it from Rs 21,523 crore in 2023 to Rs 21,000 crore in 2024-25. This programme is essential for providing nutrition to young mothers and children, as well as early childhood education. Nagaraj, an SFI member, stated, "This reduction shows the government's lack of commitment to combating malnutrition."

While the Budget increased funding for the PM-Poshan scheme, including the mid-day meal programme, by 25 per cent (from Rs 10,000 crore in 2023 to Rs 12,467.39 crore in 2024-25), SFI noted this is still below the 2022 allocation of Rs 12,680.97 crore. This, along with the Anganwadi cuts, indicates insufficient support for nutrition programmes.

SFI also criticised the Budget for failing to address inadequate school infrastructure and learning conditions. They pointed out that over 70 million children lack foundational literacy and numeracy skills, with nearly 44 per cent of government schools lacking electricity. The school education and literacy budget increase was less than 1 per cent, from Rs 72,474 crore in 2023 to Rs 73,008 crore in 2024, far below the recommended 6 per cent of GDP for education.

In higher education, SFI expressed alarm over a 17 per cent overall budget cut, especially the drastic reduction in University Grants Commission (UGC) funding from Rs 6,409 crore to Rs 2,500 crore, a 60 per cent decrease. They also criticised the merging of various scholarships into the PM-USP scheme, arguing it hinders accountability and transparency.