Social sector experts have sought wider coverage of social security benefits and increased allocation for the Right to Education, schemes for nutrition for children and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme.
“There is a deficit of 9 lakh teachers. We have demanded allocation of at least 10 per cent of the national income to education and implementation of the Right to Education by the Centre,” Ambrish Rai of RTE Forum today said after a pre-Budget consultation with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Ashok Bharti, Chairman of the National Confederation of Dalit Organisations, said that allocation to NREGA should be increased by at least ₹ 5,000 crore in 2016-17 to meet the demands of rural labour after two consecutive years of poor monsoons.
The Finance Minister will be holding a similar consultation with banks and financial institutions later in the day for their inputs for the Union Budget 2016-17.