Social Sector in India: Issues and Challenges

The social sector is usually defined as dealing with social and economic activities carried out for the purposes of benefiting society, and in the main nonprofit, not-for-profit, philanthropic and mission based and nongovernmental organizations are associated with this sector. However, in the context of this book, the social sector is considered under “social services” in Indian budgets. The focus is on education and health, as these are two major components and have wider positive externalities for other sectors of the economy and society as a whole. They help increase the overall expansion of the economy by enhancing productivity and output, and may be funded by private or public agencies. Indian plan documents also discuss health and education under the social sector, expressing a lot of concern. Given India’s demographic dividends, with a larger amount of young people in the productive age group, education and health assume great significance on account of their real contribution to production by ensuring rapid and inclusive growth.