A seminar on ‘Patterns and Determinants of Expenditure on Human Priority Sectors: A Case of Indian States’ was held at the Joan Robinson Hall on 23 October, 2019. The seminar was presented by Rimon Saha, PhD Scholar, CDS. Dr Srikanta Kundu, Assistant Professor, CDS chaired the seminar.
Abstract: Using a panel of 15 major states from India, this paper examines patterns and changes in the expenditure on six Human Priority Sectors over a period of 2001-2018. It is found that Family Welfare and Water Sanitation are the two sectors which received only 2%of the Human priority sector expenditure in the study period. The result also reveals the visible disparities in expenditure patterns across the states. For example, Bihar spends only 25% of Kerala in Human priority sectors, and the disparity in expenditure is highest in Nutrition sector. It also shows a recent increase in disparities in family welfare. Moreover, Bihar along with lowest spending in these sectors also has the lowest growth rate of expenditures especially for family welfare, Bihar has negative growth rates. She is also not in keeping with its population growth and under spending in most of the sectors. The pattern also shows the major shifts of the expenditure in most of the states had happened after 2005 although the targets of Millennium Development Goals were given by 2000.In addition, the study examines the determinants of the human priority sector spending and found that state real per capita income significantly enhances such expenditure but the MDG announcement had no effect on the states expenditures. Although states with large base of poor population is spending more on these sectors but the percentage of rural population is not being considered for such spending. It is evident from the results that demographic features are not incorporated in the decision making process of public spending of such category