A Sectoral Analysis of the Government of Karnataka's Ayurveda Budget from FY2011-12 to FY2023-24

Shakeel H Jamakhane

doi:10.21760/jaims.8.8.31

A Sectoral Analysis of the Government of Karnataka's Ayurveda Budget from FY2011-12 to FY2023-24

Jamakhane S^1*

DOI: DOI:10.21760/jaims.8.8.31

^1* Shakeel H Jamakhane, Assistant Professor, Department Of Ayurveda Samhita And Siddhanta, Jain Agm Ayurvedic Medical College And Hospital, Varur, Karnataka, India.

On the 17th of February, the Chief Minister of Karnataka presented the ₹3 Trillion Karnataka Budget. This year, the Government of Karnataka aims to spend more than ₹13,000 crores on health and family welfare. Good. The allocation for Ayurveda? ₹195 crores. Narratives shape public opinion. And the public opinion about the ascent of Ayurveda seems no different. For some, Ayurveda has grown by leaps and bounds in the past decade. For others, less so. The former narrative traces the causes of growth to, amongst other reasons, 'government support.' Is that true? This paper tries to answer the question by tracking the evolution of government support for Ayurveda in Karnataka. It does so by analysing the budget allocation for the Department of AYUSH, specifically for Ayurveda, over the past decade. The sectoral analysis presented in this paper is based on the data extracted from budget documents of the Government of Karnataka from FY2011-12 to FY2023-24. The study is limited to understanding the budgetary allocation for Ayurveda at the state level. It doesn’t take into account (for example) the grants received under Centrally Sponsored Schemes. The author concludes that when it comes to Ayurveda, the clamour surrounding Ayurveda hides more than it reveals.

Keywords: Budget, Ayurveda, Budget Estimate, Revised Estimate

Corresponding Author	How to Cite this Article	To Browse
Shakeel H Jamakhane, Assistant Professor, Department Of Ayurveda Samhita And Siddhanta, Jain Agm Ayurvedic Medical College And Hospital, Varur, Karnataka, India. Email:	Jamakhane S, A Sectoral Analysis of the Government of Karnataka's Ayurveda Budget from FY2011-12 to FY2023-24. J Ayu Int Med Sci. 2023;8(8):201-205. Available From https://jaims.in/jaims/article/view/2706

Introduction

One of the narratives surrounding Ayurveda’s changing landscape points to the cause for the growing interest in Ayurveda as ‘government support.’^[1] Is this narrative accurate? If yes, then is it good for a government to spend money on promoting Ayurveda? This paper tries to answer these questions by looking into a specific State Budget - the annual budget of the Government of Karnataka. Before we delve into the gory details of the

Government of Karnataka’s budget though, let's review the basics of the budget.

Budget101

Just as individuals keep track of their savings and expenses, governments lay out their plans for future expenses and earnings in a document called the budget.^[2] In India, the union government and the state governments come up with budgets annually. Therefore, the budget is also called the Annual Financial Statement (AFS). In it, the government provides details about its income and expenditure.

A government budget helps us answer two questions: How does a government earn money? Where does it spend the money?

A government earns some of its money through taxes (e.g., income tax, GST, corporate tax.). It also charges people for services (e.g., water bill, electricity bill etc.). Like people, governments could sell assets in return for cash (e.g., disinvestment). And just as individuals do, governments take loans (debt).

Governments are expected to spend money on things called public goods (e.g., law and order, public health etc.). But similar to individuals, governments have the habit of spending money on everything.

When a government spends money on infrastructure, such spending is called Capital Expenditure (e.g., constructing roads, buildings etc.). When a government gives out money for salaries or paying bills, such expenditure is called Revenue expenditure.^[3]

The Constitution of India provides lists of areas for which the union government and state governments

are responsible. State governments are responsible for, amongst other things, hospitals and dispensaries, and public health and sanitation.^[4]

Understanding the Budget Documents

Budget Documents include the Annual Financial Statement (AFS), expenditure volumes, budget speech etc.

The Annual Financial Statement (AFS) and other budget documents provide the estimates for the given year and two preceding years.

Governments make promises. They also break promises. The promises made by the government for a given year are included under the term ‘Budget estimate’ (BE).^[5] E.g., a government has promised to spend ₹X on the Department of AYUSH for FY2023-24.

A government may announce to spend ₹1,000 crores on something but only spend ₹200-₹300 crores by the end of the fiscal year. Therefore, the details about the amount of money being spent vis-à-vis the amount allocated in the BE will be inferred by looking at the Revised Estimate (RE). The revised estimate is the government’s estimate for the money spent in a financial year.^[6]

The budget documents for the year ‘n’ also include the details of the actual money spent on budget items in the year ‘n-2.’

So, a budget document for the year ‘n’ provides the following details:

1. The Budget Estimate (BE) for the year ‘n’
2. The Budget Estimate (BE) for the year ‘n-1’
3. The Revised Estimate (RE) for the year ‘n-1’
4. Actuals for the year ‘n-2’

Ayurveda Budget: GOK Perspectives

In this paper, the author tracks the Government of Karnataka's (GOK) budget allocation for the Department of AYUSH, specifically the allocation for Ayurveda, from FY2011-12 to FY2023-24. This paper is about understanding the year-on-year change in the Ayurveda budget over the last decade. For the sake of brevity, the specifics of each budget are omitted.

The allocation for the department of AYUSH, similar to most other budget items, comes in two forms: Revenue Expenditure and Capital Expenditure.

Revenue expenditure includes the salaries of government employees, bills paid by the government, scholarships for AYUSH students etc. Capital expenditure includes spending money on constructing hospitals, colleges, labs etc.

The details of the allocation for the department of AYUSH can be found in the 'Expenditure Volume-2' of the budget documents. The budget documents could be accessed on the Finance department's website.^[7]

In India, the budget documents for both the union government and the state governments are standardised. That is, they all look the same. Each entry in the budget (a budget item) will have a unique code attached to it. For example, the budget code for Revenue expenditure on Medical and Public Health is 2210. This is the same across states.

The allocation for Ayurveda could be tracked using the budget codes related to Ayurveda. The budget codes related to Ayurveda are the following:

Table 1: Revenue Expenditure

Budget Item	Budget Code
Ayurveda (Urban Health Services - Other Systems of Medicine)	2210-02-101
Ayurveda - Education	2210-05-101

Table 2: Capital Expenditure

Budget Item	Budget Code
Ayurveda - Buildings	4210-03-101

Summing up the revenue expenditure and capital expenditure gives the total allocation for Ayurveda. For example, for FY2023-24 i.e., this year, the Budget Estimate for revenue expenditure on Ayurveda (2210-02-101) is ₹169.23 crores. The Budget Estimate for revenue expenditure on Ayurveda Education (2210-05-101) is ₹6.63 crores. The Budget Estimate for capital expenditure on Ayurveda Buildings (4210-03-101) is ₹20 crores.

Summing up these values gives the number for the total allocation for Ayurveda. The number for FY2023-24 is ₹195.86 crores.

The allocation for Ayurveda in the previous year (FY2022-23) was ₹171.12 crores. The year before? ₹169.43 crores.

The usual method for calculating the year-on-year change in the allocation for

a budget item is to compare its BE for the year ‘n’ with its RE for the year ‘n-1.’ The author has used a different method. The author has compared the government’s promises (BE) year-on-year. That is, the author has compared the BE starting FY2011-12 to FY2023-24. Here’s what the numbers look like:

Table 3

Source: Expenditure Volumes – FY2011-12 to FY2023-24, Department of Finance, Government of Karnataka.

Discussion

What does this mean for Ayurveda?

The allocation for Ayurveda has improved over the last decade. By how much? For the past 12 years, the year-on-year change in the Ayurveda budget is about 7.44%. That is, the budget allocation for Ayurveda has grown at a pace of 7.44% each year. Great, right? No.

You may have seen biscuit brands like Parle claiming to be offering 25% extra for the same price. You may have also noticed that the 25% only translates to an extra 15 grams of biscuits!

Percentage change could mislead us into believing that a change is radical when it is not. When the budget allocation for Ayurveda changed by 123.82% between FY2019-20 and FY2020-21, the change was a mere ₹31.38 crores.

The take-home message here is that a big percentage of a small number will be a small number.

Another example to demonstrate this would be the allocation (BE) for the Ministry of AYUSH by the Union government this year.

The Union Government aims to spend ₹3647 crores

on AYUSH this year. This is a whopping 19.57% increase in the allocation for the ministry compared to the previous year. The allocation for the ministry of AYUSH in FY2022-23 was ₹3050 crores. So, the actual change from the last year is ₹597 crores.

Now, let’s look at the allocation for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This year, the allocation (BE) for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stands at ₹86,175 crores. Compared with last year’s BE, this is an increase in the allocation for the ministry by a mere 3.82%. Last year’s BE for the ministry stood at ₹83,000 crores. So, a 3.82% change translates into an increase of ₹3,175 crores!

Always remember: Numbers could be misleading. A 19.57% increase doesn’t always mean a radical change.

An observation

When you look carefully at Table 3, you will notice that the allocation for the budget item ‘Ayurveda’ i.e., 2210-02-101 increased from 27.37 crores in FY2021-22 to ₹155.18 crores and ₹169.23 crores in the succeeding years. Again, seems like a radical change, right? No!

This seems like a trick. While the total allocation for Ayurveda has remained more or less the same, over the same period the allocation for a budget item–2210-2-101–has increased by more than 5 times!

We know that when a + b = c, if ‘c’ is constant, then an increase in the value of ‘a’ means a corresponding decrease in the value of ‘b.’

That is, given the revenue expenditure on Ayurveda hasn’t changed by much in the past two years, if the allocation for 2210-02-101 has increased, then the allocation for 2210-05-101 must have decreased. It has decreased. 2210-05-101 is Ayurveda Education. Did the government spend only 5.94 crores on Ayurveda education last year? (Refer: Table 3). Again, the answer is “No.”

What’s happening here!? To understand this, let’s dissect the budget document a little bit.

The Budget item 2210-02-101 i.e., Ayurveda, is a budget item within section 2210-02.

2210-02 stands for the category “Urban Health Services – Other systems of Medicine.” Under this category, the allocation for 2210-02-101

(Ayurveda) is used for Ayurvedic hospitals, hospital staff, allowances etc.

The budget item 2210-05-101 i.e., Ayurveda Education is a budget item under section 2210-05.

2210-05 is about “Medical Education Training & Research.” The allocation for Ayurveda education is nested under this section.

In the past two years, most of the allocations for Ayurveda Education are listed under 2210-02-101 instead of 2210-05-101. That’s why, the numbers for 2210-02-101 have skyrocketed, while the numbers for 2210-05-101 have decreased.

Why would the government commit this mistake? Not once, but twice. (Refer to the values of 2210-02-101 for FY2022-23 and FY2023-24 in Table-03)

When we zoom out a little bit, we can see that the allocation for the category 2210-05 has increased while the allocation for 2210-05-101 (Ayurveda) has decreased. So, the government could still claim that it has increased the allocation for Medical Education. On the other hand, 2210-02-101 is about AYUSH hospitals. Most people would be interested in knowing the allocation for AYUSH hospitals and Urban Health Services than AYUSH colleges. The government, one would guess, may know this. (This is a speculation.)

Thus, it appears that there may be a discrepancy in the reported numbers regarding the improvement of AYUSH facilities by the government. When it comes to the expenditure budget, keeping an eye on the capital expenditure part of Ayurveda budget could be revealing for the stakeholders. In toto, while there is a lot of clamour around Ayurveda, the government may not be doing much other than indulge in rhetoric.

Conclusion

It appears as though the narratives around the ascent of Ayurveda pay too much credence to the candidate that deserves it less – the government. While there is a lot that a government could do to ‘promote’ Ayurveda, the author expects that it restricts itself to regulating the Ayurvedic system of cures.

One should remember that it is not imperative for the government to support Ayurveda. Instead, it is a moral imperative for Ayurvedic students

and practitioners to be open to self-criticism, and have a sense of healthy scepticism towards Ayurveda. Therefore, it is time for us to see Ayurveda for what it is by testing its methods for scientific rigour, because closing our eyes doesn’t stop us from getting deceived.

References

1. Katoch, Dinesh, et al. “Government Policies and Initiatives for Development of Ayurveda.” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 197, 2017, pp. 25–31, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2016.08.018.

2. Kay, John Anderson, et al. “Government Budget.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 9 Mar. 2023, [cited 2023 March 11]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/topic /government-budget.

3. Business Standard. “What Is Revenue Expenditure of Government, Revenue Expenditure of Government Meaning, Budget News.” Business Standard, [cited 2023 March 11]. Available from: https://www.business-standard.com/about/what-is-revenue-expenditure-of-the-government.

4. Admin. “7th Schedule of Indian Constitution - Union List, State List, Concurrent List [UPSC GS-II].” BYJUS, BYJU'S, 28 Nov. 2022, [cited 2023 March 11]. Available from: https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/7th-schedule-indian-constitution/.

5. Business Standard. “What Are Budget Estimates, Budget Estimates Definition, Budget Estimates News.” Business Standard, [cited 2023 March 11]. Available from: https://www.business-standard.com/about/what-is-budget-estimates.

6. “An Overview of the Revised Estimate.” Unacademy, 30 Apr. 2022, [cited 2023 March 11]. Available from: https://unacademy.com/content/railway-exam/study-material/general-awareness/an-overview-of-the-revised-estimate/.

7. “Finance Department Government of Karnataka.” Budget Documents, [cited 2023 March 11]. Available from: https://finance.karnataka.gov.in/ english.

Manuscript Received	Review Round 1	Review Round 2	Review Round 3	Accepted
11/06/2023	2023-06-19	2023-06-26	2023-07-05	16/07/2023
Conflict of Interest	Funding	Ethical Approval	Plagiarism X-checker	Note
None declared	Nil	Yes	18.56

Review Article

Ayurveda Budget

Journal of Ayurveda and Integrated Medical Sciences

A Sectoral Analysis of the Government of Karnataka's Ayurveda Budget from FY2011-12 to FY2023-24

Jamakhane S^1*

Introduction

Discussion

Conclusion

References

Review Article

Ayurveda Budget

Journal of Ayurveda and Integrated Medical Sciences

A Sectoral Analysis of the Government of Karnataka's Ayurveda Budget from FY2011-12 to FY2023-24

Jamakhane S1*

Introduction

Discussion

Conclusion

References

Jamakhane S^1*