<h1>Child budget allocations show marginal overall growth but uneven cuts risk undermining scholarships, minority education, and protection schemes.</h1> The 2025-26 Union Budget shows a nominal rise in child focused allocations but a stagnating or declining share of overall public expenditure, with uneven impacts across programmes: notable cuts to certain scholarships and minority education schemes contrast with increases in key school, nutrition, and anganwadi initiatives. Analysts warn that midyear Revised Estimates reductions and a long term decline in the child budget's share raise concerns about funding adequacy, volatility, and insufficient financing for child protection measures addressing child marriage and sexual violence.