An allocation of Rs1, 31,317 crore has been made in the budget for the flagship programmes aimed at improving the lot of the common man. An amount of Rs 30,100 crore has been allocated to National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in 2009-10. The scheme has been extended to all the districts of the country to and provide employment of 138.76 crore person days, covering 3.51 crore households during 2008-09.

For Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, an allocation of Rs.13,100 crore has been proposed. About 98 per cent of inhabited areas has been covered by primary schools and the focus now is on improving the quality of elementary education. An allocation of Rs.8,000 crore has been made for the mid-day meal scheme.

An allocation of Rs6,705 crore has been proposed for the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) in the country, while Rs.11,842 crore has been allocated for the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Under the mission, 386 projects amounting to Rs.39,000 crore had been sanctioned as of 31 December 2008, Mukherjee said in his budget speech..

Bharat Nirman, the time-bound plan for building rural infrastructure, has been allocated Rs40,900 crore for 2009-10. Between 2005 and 2009, the allocation to this programme has been increased by 261 per cent. National Rural Health Mission has been allocated Rs.12,070 crore. The programme aims to bring about uniformity in the quality of preventive and curative health care in rural areas.

The Rajiv Gandhi Rural Drinking Water Mission is envisaged to supply safe drinking water to uncovered habitations and 'slipped back' habitations. An allocation of Rs.7,400 crore has been made for this programme for the year 2009-10, while Rs1,200 crore has been assigned for Total Rural Sanitation programme.