Union Budget 2021 | Culture Ministry budget cut by nearly 15%

The Culture Ministry’s expenditure budget for 2021-2022 was cut by nearly 15% compared to the Budget Estimates (BE) for 2020-2021, according to the Budget documents tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Monday.

The Ministry has been allocated ₹2,687.99 crore. It was ₹3,149.86 crore in the previous financial year, though the actual expenditure was ₹2,211.85 crore, according to the Revised Estimates (RE) for the year.

The bulk of the expenditure in the BE for 2021-2022 was under the developmental head of “art and culture.” ₹2,513.01 crore was allocated for it. The remaining amount was allocated for “secretariat-social services” (₹50.70 crore), “capital outlay on education, sports, art and culture” (₹78.76 crore) and “North-Eastern areas” (₹45.52 crore).

The Archaeological Survey of India, which is responsible for the upkeep of over 3,000 Centrally-protected monuments, saw its budget cut from ₹1,246.7 crore in the 2020-2021 BE to ₹1,042.63 crore in the 2021-2022 BE. However, the expenditure budget for ASI was revised to ₹860.8 crore in the RE for 2020-2021.