Union Budget 2016-17: Thomas Chandy, CEO, Save the Children (India)

‘Budget for child protection, which is currently less than 0.4 per cent, should have been prioritized to strengthen JJ system’

We welcome the budget and it’s focus on rural India, poverty alleviation and job creation. Given the recent amendment on Juvenile Justice Act, our expectation was for the budget for child protection, which is currently less than 0.4 per cent, should have been prioritized to strengthen JJ system. As this is the first year of the United Nation’s new development framework –the Sustainable Development Goals — a special focus on education, health and protection of children was necessary. We have to still read the fine print, we will need to see how some of the allocations, for e.g. – allocations made to Panchayat Raj institutions, are being leveraged for the benefit of children.

Save the ChildrenThomas ChandyUnion Budget 2016-17