Budget Track, Volume 5, Track 2
Improving access to essential services like healthcare, sanitation, housing, and education are crucial to overcome poverty and discrimination. At present, a large section of our society is still unable to access these basic services mainly due to unaffordability. These are not merely services but bare minimums to one’s right to live. One of the primary reasons behind such bleak condition is inadequate public provisions. This issue of Budget Track, draws attention to two major initiatives of the government — the Mid-Day Meal scheme and the Total Sanitation Campaign. Both these initiatives have attracted immense attention of the media and civil society. The issue also attempts to capture a background characteristic namely the wealth index used for the first time in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3).
