External Stimulus to Social Sector Expenditure in India: An Interstate Analysis

This study is an attempt to examine the nature and trend of social sector expenditure (SSE) of India under the effect of some external stimulus namely; the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including education and health as two important components of social welfare. By using state-wise data on social sector expenditure, the regression-based trend analysis revealed that the trend under revenue account from 2000-2001 to 2018-19 had been increasing steadily with some fluctuations during the middle years whereas, the capital account fluctuated more frequently on a yearly basis. There had been greater ups and downs in the amounts of this account during the study periods. On examining the data divided into four phases it was found that there is no such significant impact of MDGs on social sector expenditure among sample states of India. However, a significant increase in social sector expenditure on sample states is being recorded after the implementation of SDGs. It also reflected that MDGs as external factors enhance accountability but not significantly stimulated social spending, particularly in the education and healthcare sector, while the impact of SDGs is found to be significant. In the wake of increasing disparities in social expenditure and outcomes, this study will uniquely provide an academic platform for a comparative study of low, medium and high-performer states in India