Public expense is the expense incurred by the government (central, state and) local government). It is necessary for the protection of the citizens, for satisfying collective needs of the society and for ? promoting economy.and social welfare of a S country.
Public expense is necessary to perform various functions of the government Public ; expense consists of revenue and capital expenses as well as developmental and non-developmental expenses.
1. High Growth of Population : In a developing country like India, population is rising rapidly. Therefore, government has to incur greater expense to fulfil the needs of growing population.
2. Growing Urbanisation : Due to expansion of urban sector, government expense increases. Government has to make the provision of water supply, roads, energy, schools and colleges, public transport, hospitals, welfare centres, sanitation, drainage system, etc.
It leads to growth in public expense.
3. Public Health Care : Public health is a top most priority of modern welfare state.
Government undertakes public vaccination programme, maintenance of dispensaries, maternity care and child welfare centres, etc
4. Democracy : There is a democracy in India. A democratic form of government is very expensive due to regular elections and other public works.
It leads to growth in public expense.
5. An increase in Defence Expense : Government has to incur defence expense to protect the country from external attacks as well as to maintain law and order in a country. Hence, an increase in defence expense leads to growth of public expense.
6. Disaster Management : Many natural calamities like earthquakes, flood, cyclones, Covid-19 and man-made problems like social unrest, economic instability, etc. occur frequently. In such cases, government has to spend for disaster management which increases public expense.
7. Infrastructure Development : It is necessary to make provision of economic infrastructure like energy, transport, communication and social infrastructure like education, health, etc. for rapid economic development of a country. Thus, development of infrastructure facilities results into growth of public expense.
8. Inflation : Due to inflation, prices of goods and services tend to rise. When government buys goods and services from the market for development of a country, government has to pay higher cost which raises public expense.
9. Industrial Development : An increase in production depends upon industrial development. It leads to an increase in level of employment and overall economy growth. So, government implements various schemes and programmes for industrial development. It results into growth of public expense.
10. Increase in Government Activities : The modern government performs various obligatory and optional functions for social and economic development of a country. It requires huge fund to spend on education, public health, public recreation, social welfare schemes, etc.
Many other functions like maintenance of roads, lighting, public streets, construction of public houses, protecting life and property, public vaccination, garbage collection and ; disposal, prevention and control of epidemics etc. lead to growth of public expenses.
Government also spends on provision of pure water supply, removal of slums, checking food adulteration, etc. All these factors are responsible for the j growth of public expense.
