Policy Update
Samiksha Muskan
Background
Chandigarh’s scheme architecture combines locally administered welfare programmes, centrally sponsored schemes and public infrastructure projects financed through the Union Budget. Chandigarh is a Union Territory without a legislature, therefore, its expenditure is presented under the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Demand No. 53. Consequently, its departmental priorities must be read through Union budget documents, Chandigarh Administration’s departmental records and the programmes implemented by its public institutions.
For 2026–27, Chandigarh’s gross budget provision is Rs 6,545.52 crore, comprising Rs 5,939.52 crore in revenue expenditure and Rs 606 crore in capital expenditure. This compares with a gross budget estimate of Rs 6,983.18 crore in 2025–26 and a revised estimate of Rs 6,465.77 crore (Ministry of Finance, Government of India, 2026). The 2026–27 provision is therefore lower than the preceding year’s original allocation but slightly above its revised estimate. After recoveries, the net provision is Rs 5,720.17 crore.
The principal policy question is how Chandigarh will sustain welfare and service delivery while financing infrastructure within this budget envelope. Education, health facilities, public transport, renewable energy, social protection and urban services feature prominently in the expenditure framework. However, the budget’s “Schemes of UT” allocations do not represent complete departmental budgets; salaries, institutional grants and other expenditures appear under separate heads.
Engineering Department and Urban Infrastructure
Latest Budget Provision: Rs 87.06 Cr in gross capital expenditure in the 2026–27 budget under “Urban Development” and Rs 36.05 Cr under “Government Housing”
Scheme 1: Urban Infrastructure and Civic Works, Key Details: Land acquisition and surveys, infrastructure development, urban roads, stormwater drainage, electrification, civic works and infrastructure serving the Information Technology Park, Coverage: Urban infrastructure across Chandigarh. Individual project allocations are not separately identified in the summary document.
Scheme 2: Government Building Construction and Renovation, Key Details: Construction and renovation of residential and non-residential government buildings, Coverage: Government accommodation and public-service buildings. This should not be described as an allocation for affordable housing for the general public.
Municipal Services, Water Supply and Sanitation
Scheme 1: Pan-city 24×7 Water Supply, Key Details- The budget identifies pan-city 24×7 water supply within urban-development provisions and grants to public bodies, Coverage: Chandigarh’s urban water-supply system. Its inclusion establishes budget recognition, not completion or universal delivery of round-the-clock supply.
Scheme 2: Sewerage, Drainage and Essential Civic Infrastructure, Key Details- Water supply, sewerage, stormwater drainage, roads, LED lighting and related essential services appear within “Other Schemes.” Grants-in-aid to the Municipal Corporation are included under “Grantee/Other Bodies.”, Coverage: Residents and users of municipal services. The Rs 1,145.25 Cr allocation for “Grantee/Other Bodies” covers multiple institutions and must not be attributed entirely to the Municipal Corporation (Ministry of Finance, Government of India, 2026).
Health Department and Public Medical Institutions
Latest Budget Provision: Rs 109.45 Cr in capital expenditure under the “Health Services” scheme head for 2026–27 (not Chandigarh’s entire health budget, as establishment and other institutional expenditure are recorded elsewhere)
Scheme 1: Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, Key Detail-: Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, provides a dedicated Ayushman Bharat page with department-wise treatment packages, including general medicine, surgery, oncology, mental health and other specialties, Coverage: Eligible beneficiaries accessing treatment under the programme. The existence of treatment packages should not be interpreted as universal eligibility for every resident.
Scheme 2: Health-facility Expansion and Strengthening, Key Details- The budget provides for upgrading a 50-bed community health centre to a 250-bed hospital, strengthening a 50-bed polyclinic, improving rural and urban subsidiary health centres, and strengthening the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme and other healthcare services, Coverage: Users of Chandigarh’s public-health facilities.
School Education Department
Latest Budget Provision: Rs 120.66 Cr under the “Education” scheme head in 2026–27, including Rs 118.76 Cr in capital expenditure and Rs 1.90 Cr in revenue expenditure.
Scheme 1: Samagra Shiksha, Launch Year: 2018, Key Details- An integrated school-education scheme combining the former Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and Teacher Education schemes, Coverage: School education from pre-school to senior secondary level, with an emphasis on equitable access and learning outcomes.
Scheme 2: PM POSHAN, Key Details: Chandigarh’s education portal identifies a PM POSHAN system for managing school-meal services, attendance, meal distribution, nutrition monitoring and beneficiary records, Coverage: Eligible children in government and government-aided schools. The budget allocates Rs 18.20 Cr for the UT’s supplement to centrally sponsored schemes, including PM POSHAN and Saksham Anganwadis.
Scheme 3: New India Literacy Programme, Programme Period: 2022–27, Key Details- Chandigarh’s Education Department identifies the Nav Bharat Saksharta Karyakram, or New India Literacy Programme, as an initiative supporting the objective of full literacy, Coverage: The programme’s adult-literacy framework.
Higher Education, Technical Education and Training
Scheme 1: Institutional Modernisation and Technical-education Infrastructure, Key Details- Purchase of equipment, institutional amenities, support for graduate courses, and modernisation or construction involving polytechnics, the Government Polytechnic for Women and Industrial Training Institute infrastructure, Coverage: Students in government higher-education and technical-training institutions. Grants to government-aided schools and colleges and Punjab Engineering College are also recognised under the separate “Grantee/Other Bodies” category.
These provisions connect education policy with employability through institutional capacity and practical training. However, the budget summary does not establish how much each institution will receive or the number of additional students who will benefit.
Social Welfare, Women and Child Development Department
Latest Budget Provision: Rs 33.57 Cr under “Welfare of Women and Children” and Rs 21.41 Cr under “Welfare of Differently Abled and Aged” (distinct scheme heads, not a consolidated total for the entire department)
Scheme 1: Financial Assistance to Widows and Destitute Women, Key Details- Chandigarh’s official district portal lists financial assistance for widows and destitute women among the department’s social-security programmes, Coverage: Eligible women meeting the applicable scheme conditions.
Scheme 2: Financial Assistance to Dependent Children of Widows and Destitute Women, Key Details: The government’s UMANG scheme listing specifies assistance of Rs 1,000 per month per child for eligible fatherless or orphaned children, Coverage: Children satisfying the scheme’s eligibility requirements.
Scheme 3: Integrated Child Development Services and Nutrition Support, Key Details- Chandigarh’s ICDS page lists supplementary nutrition, immunisation, health check-ups and referral services. The department also maintains a dedicated POSHAN Abhiyaan page, Coverage: Eligible beneficiaries served through the Anganwadi and child-development system. Nutrition and Anganwadi support also appear within the combined UT supplement to centrally sponsored schemes.
Scheme 4: Child Protection and Institutional Care, Key Details- The budget recognises support for child-protection implementation, a girls’ children’s home, crèches for children of working mothers and other protective institutions, Coverage: Children requiring care and protection and eligible families using childcare services.
Senior Citizens and Persons with Disabilities
Scheme 1: Old-age Pension and Social Assistance, Key Details- The official district portal confirms an old-age pension programme. Allocation also identifies the National Social Assistance Programme and National Family Benefit Scheme within the relevant welfare head, Coverage: Eligible older persons and households meeting the respective programme conditions. This is included within Rs 21.41 Cr for welfare of differently abled and aged persons.
Scheme 2: Disability-related Education, Rehabilitation and Employment Support, Key Details- Official records identify scholarships, prosthetic assistance, vocational training, unemployment allowance and petrol/diesel subsidies for eligible persons with disabilities. The department also provides application forms for disability funds and rehabilitation assistance, Coverage: Eligible persons with disabilities.
Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Class Welfare
Scheme 1: Educational Assistance, Key Details- Support includes school-uniform stitching charges for Scheduled Caste children and free education for eligible meritorious Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Class students, Coverage: Eligible students in the specified categories.
Scheme 2: Social Protection and Rehabilitation, Key Details- Encouragement of inter-caste marriage, monetary relief and rehabilitation for victims of atrocities, and enforcement-related support under civil-rights protections, Coverage: Eligible beneficiaries under the respective programme rules. The departmental overview establishes the programme categories but should be supplemented with current guidelines before quoting benefit rates.
Food and Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department
Scheme 1: Direct Cash Transfer of Food Subsidy under the NFSA, Launch Year: September 2015 (in Chandigarh), Key Details- Chandigarh implements the National Food Security Act through cash transfers to eligible households’ bank accounts in lieu of foodgrain distribution. Beneficiaries can use the transfer to purchase foodgrains from the open market, Coverage: Eligible NFSA households. The cited sources do not provide a separate 2026–27 Chandigarh allocation or a current household-level transfer rate.
Transport Department and Chandigarh Transport Undertaking
Latest Budget Provision: Rs 47.31 Cr under the “Road and Transport” scheme head, including Rs 42.20 Cr in capital expenditure.
Scheme 1: PM-eBus Sewa, The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’ programme portal identifies Chandigarh among the first four participating cities to commence operations in February 2026, Coverage: Urban public-transport users, Latest Development: Reporting on 25 October 2026 states that bids had been invited for another 328 buses, with deliveries expected from March 2027.
The programme’s impact will depend on service frequency, route coverage, charging infrastructure and operational reliability not procurement numbers alone.
Power, Renewable Energy and CREST
Latest Budget Provision: Rs 171.86 Cr in 2026–27 under the “Power and Renewable Energy” scheme head, including Rs 24.20 Cr in capital expenditure.
Scheme 1: PM Surya Ghar – Muft Bijli Yojana, Key Details: Chandigarh Renewable Energy, Science and Technology Promotion Society facilitates the local rooftop-solar drive. Reporting in September 2026 identifies central assistance of up to Rs 78,000 for eligible residential installations under the applicable capacity slabs, Coverage: Eligible residential rooftop-solar applicants, Latest Target: Rooftop plants at 8,000 private houses by the end of 2026–27.
Industries and Khadi and Village Industries
Scheme 1: Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme, Launch Year: 2008, Key Details- Chandigarh’s strategic investment plan under the Union government’s RAMP programme identifies PMEGP as a credit-linked initiative supporting new self-employment ventures and sustainable employment, Coverage: Eligible entrepreneurs establishing enterprises under programme rules.
Scheme 2: Strengthening the UT Khadi and Village Industries Board, Key Details- Institutional support for the UT Khadi and Village Industries Board, Coverage: The board’s village-industry and enterprise-support functions. The Rs 2 Cr provision for 2026–27 is an institutional provision, not a uniform benefit available to individual applicants.
Labour Department and Labour Welfare Board
Scheme 1: Worker and Family Welfare Assistance, Key Detail-: The Labour Department’s official website lists welfare schemes including scholarships for beneficiaries’ children and maternity benefits, Coverage: Eligible workers and dependents under the relevant board’s rules. Eligibility has to be checked against the relevant board, rather than assuming that every worker qualifies automatically.
Forests, Wildlife and Environment
Latest Budget Provision: Rs 41.15 Cr gross, or Rs 40.53 Cr after recoveries, under the combined forests, wildlife, ecology and environment head
Scheme 1: Conservation, Plantation and Ecological Infrastructure, Key Details- Forestry and wildlife preservation, forest conservation and development, plantations, botanical gardens and related infrastructure, Coverage: Chandigarh’s forests, wildlife habitats and ecological assets.
Information Technology and Digital Service Delivery
Scheme 1: e-Sampark, Key Details- A single-window system bringing departmental services together to reduce repeated visits, improve processing and increase transparency, Coverage: Citizens accessing participating public services, Services: Pension applications, senior-citizen and disability identification services, CTU bus passes, municipal payments, housing-board transactions and hospital appointments.
Police, Art and Culture, and Administrative Departments
The police housing and allied-works head provides Rs 76.05 crore for infrastructure, buildings and renovation. This is distinct from total police expenditure. Art, culture and museums receive Rs 6.31 crore under their scheme head, including Rs 4.51 crore in capital expenditure for institutional construction and renovation.
Other departments, such as agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, cooperation, tourism, revenue-related offices and general administration appear within the establishment framework but does not, by itself, establish a new 2026–27 scheme or a separately identifiable departmental outlay.
Conclusion
Chandigarh’s 2026–27 framework combines continuing social assistance with health and education infrastructure, electric mobility, rooftop solar and urban-service investment. Its distinctive features include cash-based NFSA delivery and the use of e-Sampark to connect citizens with departmental services.
Three priorities can be interpreted from this budget outlay- (i) departmental reporting should separate total expenditure, scheme allocations and individual benefits; (ii) announcements and procurement targets should be distinguished from completed assets and operational services; (iii) public reporting should connect expenditure with outcomes of timely welfare payments, functioning health facilities, reliable buses, educational participation and dependable civic services.
References
Chandigarh Administration. (n.d.). e-Sampark. https://chandigarh.gov.in/e-governance/e-sampark
Department of Education, Chandigarh Administration. (n.d.-a). About Samagra Shiksha scheme. https://chdeducation.gov.in/page/viewpage/110
Department of Education, Chandigarh Administration. (n.d.-b). Nav Bharat Saksharta Karyakram. https://chdeducation.gov.in/page/viewpage/108
Department of Industries, Chandigarh Administration. (n.d.). Strategic investment plan. Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India. https://ramp.msme.gov.in/ramp/sites/default/files/2026-05/chandigarh.pdf
Department of Labour, Chandigarh Administration. (n.d.). Labour Department. http://labour.chd.gov.in/main.aspx
Department of Social Welfare, Women and Child Development, Chandigarh Administration. (n.d.-a). ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme). https://chdsw.gov.in/index.php/scheme/ICDS
Department of Social Welfare, Women and Child Development, Chandigarh Administration. (n.d.-b). POSHAN Abhiyaan. https://chdsw.gov.in/index.php/scheme/POSHAN-Abhiyaan
Department of Social Welfare, Women and Child Development, Chandigarh Administration. (n.d.-c). Social welfare, woman & child development. https://chdsw.gov.in/
District Administration Chandigarh. (n.d.). Social welfare. https://chandigarhdistrict.nic.in/social-welfare/
e-Sampark, Chandigarh Administration. (n.d.). Services offered at Sampark centres. https://sampark.chd.nic.in/Epayment/StaticPages/other_services.aspx
ETInfra. (2026, October 25). Chandigarh to get 328 e-buses under PM e-bus sewa scheme by mid-2027. https://infra.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/urban-transportation/chandigarh-to-get-328-e-buses-under-pm-e-bus-sewa-scheme-by-mid-2027/135185537
Government Medical College & Hospital, Chandigarh. (n.d.). Ayushman Bharat. https://gmch.gov.in/ayushman-bharat
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. (n.d.). Cash transfer of food subsidy. National Food Security Portal. https://nfsa.gov.in/portal/NFSA-
Ministry of Education. (n.d.). About Samagra Shiksha. https://samagra.education.gov.in/about.html
Ministry of Finance, Government of India. (2026). Ministry of Home Affairs (Chandigarh): Demand No. 53. In Expenditure budget 2026–2027. https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/eb/sbe53.pdf
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. (n.d.). PM-eBus Sewa. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://pm-ebus-sewa.mohua.gov.in/
National Portal of India. (n.d.). Website of Samagra Shiksha, Chandigarh. https://www.india.gov.in/category/education-learning/subcategory/school-education/details/website-of-samagra-shiksha-chandigarh
Press Information Bureau. (n.d.). Cash transfer of food subsidy directly into the bank account of PDS being implemented on a pilot basis in three UTs—Chandigarh and Puducherry since September, 2015 and urban areas of Dadra and Nagar Haveli since March, 2016. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1811483
The Tribune. (2026, September 14). Chandigarh Administration eyes solar plants at 8K private houses by March next. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/chandigarh/chandigarh-administration-eyes-solar-plants-at-8k-private-houses-by-march-next/
UMANG. (n.d.). Financial assistance to dependent children of widows and destitute women. https://web.umang.gov.in/landing/scheme/detail/financial-assistance-to-dependent-children-of-widows-and-destitute-women_fsdcwdw.html
Vidya Samiksha Kendra, Chandigarh. (n.d.). Portals. https://vsk.chdeducation.gov.in/portals
About the Contributor
Samiksha Muskan is a Research and Editorial Intern at IMPRI. She is currently pursuing a BA (Honors) with Research in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College for Women at Delhi University.
Acknowledgement
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to IMPRI for giving me this opportunity to write Policy Update and its intellectual encouraging environment. I would especially like to acknowledge Aditi Bhuinyan and Aditya Chavan for giving valuable feedback and review.
Disclaimer
All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
Read More at IMPRI:
India’s Debt Restructuring Support to Sri Lanka and Zambia (2024): Development Diplomacy and Sustainable Economic Recovery
