Rs 257/month per person spent on social services

The government spent Rs 257 a month per person on social services like sports, education and medical and public health in the last fiscal, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

"As per the data on expenditures of the Centre and the States combined on social services available from the Reserve Bank of India, total combined expenditure on social services in 2008-09 was Rs 257 per month per person roughly," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Rajya Sabha.

He also said that the total combined expenditure of the Centre and the state governments on social services in 2008-09 was 6.72 per cent of the country's GDP.

"The government is fully committed to inclusive growth and is making all efforts to provide sufficient funds for social security, especially for the disadvantaged sections of the society," he said.

Social services include education, sports, art and culture, medical and public health, family welfare of SCs, STCs and OBCs, labour welfare, social security and welfare and nutrition, relief on account of natural calamities.