scorecardresearch
Friday, Mar 29, 2024
Advertisement
Premium

Odisha govt tables vote-on-account Budget of Rs 2 lakh crore

State Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari said that the state government decided to present a vote-on-account Budget instead of a full-fledged Budget as the Model Code of Conduct was in force until recently.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Parliament House complex, in New Delhi. (PTI)Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Parliament House complex, in New Delhi. (PTI)

State Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari Wednesday tabled a vote-on-account Budget in the Odisha Legislative Assembly with an outlay of Rs 2,00,000 crore, which is about 17.6% more than the previous annual Budget. The Budget was presented for the first four months of the next fiscal year.

🗞️ Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to access the best Election reporting and analysis 🗞️

Pujari said that the state government decided to present a vote-on-account Budget instead of a full-fledged Budget as the Model Code of Conduct was in force until recently which resulted in time constraint for completing the entire legislative process that inter alia includes presentation of the Budget to deliberation on proposals by the members and finally passing of the Appropriation Bill before March 31.

Advertisement

“Accordingly, instead of presenting a full-fledged budget, a Vote-on-Account Budget has been presented to enable us to incur expenditure for the first four months of the financial year 2022-23 on existing establishment, schemes and projects,” Pujari said during his presentation.

Pujari further underlined that the state’s dependence on central transfers has reduced with the state’s own revenue contributing about 58% to the total revenue pool. Revenue surplus is projected at 2.7 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). While, the fiscal deficit is kept within the prescribed limit of 3% of the GSDP.

Festive offer

The proposed Budget focuses extensively on agriculture and allied sectors, education and skills sector and healthcare. An allocation of Rs 20,344 crore has been made for agriculture and allied sectors, followed by an allocation of Rs 23,947 crore for the education and skills sector and Rs 12,241 crore for the health sector.

Pushing the state-sponsored Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana for free medical facilities, Rs 1,864 crore was proposed apart from Rs 2,335 crore to build health infrastructure and services under the Mukhyamantri Swasthya Seva Mission.

Advertisement

With a special focus on the development process in western Odisha, Rs 180 crore was provided for the Western Odisha Development Council (WODC). An outlay of Rs 250 crore is also proposed under the Biju KBK Plan to improve infrastructure in the KBK districts, mainly with respect to electricity, roads and water. Rs 50 crore has also been proposed for the development of Swabhiman Anchal, an erstwhile Maoist stronghold.

 


Apart from this, Rs 132 crore was provided for the promotion of Odia language, culture and heritage, which includes Rs 46 crore for the Mukhyamantri Kalakara Sahayata Yojana and Rs 15 crore for preservation, conservation and protection of monuments and sites.

In view of the recurrent natural calamities, Rs 3,210 crore was provided for disaster management, including Rs 2,246 crore under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and Rs 964 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

First uploaded on: 30-03-2022 at 19:20 IST
Latest Comment
Post Comment
Read Comments
Advertisement
shorts
Maguntas
Political PulseUpdated: March 29, 2024 07:11 IST

Away from the national capital’s courtroom where the case against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is playing out, two key figures embroiled in the excise policy case – four-time MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and his son Raghava Magunta Reddy – are busy campaigning for BJP ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP)

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
close