New Fiscal Review / Can government schemes be stopped? Government is going to review it

The new financial year will begin after a week, in which the central government will review welfare schemes. The main focus will be on the quality of expenditure and the impact of the schemes. Niti Aayog will present the report in April. The Center has set a budget of Rs 5.41 lakh crore for CSS.

New Fiscal Review: A new financial year is set to begin in a week, bringing several significant changes. Notably, the central government is preparing for a comprehensive review of its welfare schemes. According to media reports, a senior official has stated that in the upcoming financial year, all centrally sponsored and central government schemes will be reviewed. This process will evaluate the quality of expenditure, utilization of funds, and the overall impact of each scheme. Such a review is conducted every five years before the tenure of a new Finance Commission to optimize fund utilization by eliminating unnecessary schemes.

Key Review Criteria

According to official reports, the review will focus on several critical aspects, including:

Is the scheme achieving its intended objectives?
Is it overlapping with similar state-level schemes?
Can smaller schemes be merged or phased out?
How effectively have states implemented these schemes?

The Department of Expenditure has also sought recommendations from nodal ministries as part of this review process. An official mentioned that particularly valuable suggestions have been received regarding social sector schemes.

Budget Allocation for Top 10 Central Government Schemes in FY 2026 (in Crore Rupees)

Scheme Name	Budget (₹ Cr.)
MGNREGA	86,000
Jal Jeevan Mission	67,000
PM Kisan	63,500
PM Awas Yojana (Rural)	54,832
Samagra Shiksha	41,250
National Health Mission	37,227
PM Awas Yojana (Urban)	23,294
Modified Interest Subvention Scheme	22,600
Saksham Anganwadi & Nutrition	21,960
New Employment Generation Scheme	20,000

Report Expected in April

The NITI Aayog has been instructed to identify areas where state government schemes overlap with centrally sponsored schemes (CSS). A detailed report is expected by April, which will provide recommendations on whether to continue, modify, expand, reduce, or discontinue certain schemes.

Budget for Centrally Sponsored Schemes

Key centrally sponsored schemes include Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (both Rural and Urban), Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

In March 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi formed a sub-group of Chief Ministers to rationalize centrally sponsored schemes, reducing their number from 130 to 75.

For the financial year 2025-26, the total budget allocation for centrally sponsored schemes is ₹5.41 lakh crore. In the current financial year, it was ₹5.05 lakh crore, later revised to ₹4.15 lakh crore.