Infrastructure status to health and education

Replying to discussions in Lok Sabha over Budget 2011-12, Mukherjee said the Centre was committed to curbing inflation without hampering growth.

“Investment in education and health sectors has a high priority in our policy framework. Henceforth capital stock in educational institutions and hospitals will be treated as infrastructure sub-sectors,” he said.

This would make capital investments in the sub-sectors eligible for the Finance Ministry’s Viability Gap Funding Scheme, which has been extended to other sectors. Expanding the government’s social welfare schemes for inclusive growth, he announced cheap loans for small-time fish farmers and fishermen at the subsidised interest rate of 4 per cent.