E-Paper
Haryana CM presents ₹1.55 lakh crore budget with focus on health, agriculture
On the farm front, Khattar said an outlay of ₹6,110 crore has been proposed for 2021-22, of which ₹2,998 crore is earmarked for agriculture and farmers’ welfare
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday presented a ₹1.55-lakh crore budget for the 2021-22 fiscal, with health, agriculture and infrastructure identified as priority areas.
Presenting the budget estimates, which have no fresh tax proposals, Khattar, who also holds the finance portfolio, proposed a budget of ₹1,55,645 crore for FY 2021-22, an increase of 13% over FY 2020-21 of ₹1,37,738 crore. The budget outlay comprises 25% as capital expenditure of ₹38,718 crore and 75% as revenue expenditure of ₹1,16,927 crore.
As compared to the revised estimates of 2020-21, the budget estimates for 2021-22 indicates an increase of ₹10,084 crore in revenue expenditure. As per 2021-22 budget estimates, the revenue deficit is estimated to be at ₹29,193 crore (3.29% of the GSDP) as compared to ₹20,856 crore revenue deficit in the current fiscal.
The debt liability is likely to go up to ₹2,29,976 crore as on March 2022 from ₹1,99,823 crore as on March 2021, constituting 25.92% of the GSDP.
Khattar said that the Covid-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges and “taught us several lessons”. “It is important for the budget to prioritise specific sectors that are key to leverage a rebound in the economy, particularly in times of crisis. We have identified health, agriculture and infrastructure as key priority areas that we need to focus recovery and resurgence,” he said.
Announces Antyodaya scheme for state
Khattar said the Parivar Pehchan Patra initiative will go a long way in improving the ease of living of citizens by targeting paperless, faceless service delivery to citizens. It will help in achieving citizen convenience and good governance.
“Our strategy for the implementation is guided by principles of Antyodaya – of serving and uplifting the last person first,” he told the House and announced the launch of a new scheme – the Mukhyamantri Antyodya Parivar Utthan Abhiyan. The scheme will draw verified data from the Parivar Pehchan Patra and identify the poorest 1 lakh families in Haryana.
The package of measures from education, skill development, wage employment, self-employmentand job creation will be adopted and tailored to each family to ensure their economic uplift so as to reach a minimum economic threshold of ₹1.8 lakh per annum. Once the one lakh families are successfully uplifted, the government will identify the next lot of poorest 1 lakh families and work for their economic uplift, he said.
The drive will be an umbrella mission encompassing all government schemes to identify the scheme or set of schemes to supplement the uplift of each identified family. Each department will prioritise schemes implemented by them for the uplift of the identified poorest families. “By 2025 if we are together in implementing the Abhiyan, I hope to see no family in the state living below the poverty,” he said.
Reiterates commitment to doubling farmers’ income
Khattar said that his government needs to continue assistance to farmers for paving the way for Haryana’s economic growth. An outlay of ₹6,110 crore has been proposed for 2021-22, of which ₹2,998 crore is earmarked for agriculture and farmers’ welfare, ₹489 crore for horticulture, ₹1,225 crore for animal husbandry & dairying, ₹125 crore for fisheries and ₹1,274 crore for cooperation. The outlay of ₹6,110 crore for 2021-22 indicates an increase of 20.9 per cent against the 2020-21 fiscal’s ₹5,052 crore.
He said the government is committed to doubling farmers’ income.
“We are indebted to our farmers, whose toil and hard work has made Haryana the food bowl of the country. Agriculture is the mainstay of our economy. We are committed to doubling farmer’s income and ensuring his/her wellbeing,” he said.
₹700 crore for tech-based learning
Khattar allocated ₹700 crore for promoting technology-based learning in all government schools, including provision of digital tablets and digital classrooms.
The chief minister said the government is considering bringing a policy for performance-indexing of the municipal bodies to create a positive atmosphere of healthy competition among these bodies. The state government will award the incentive to such municipalities that achieve the performance level fixed in the Municipal Performance Index.
Panchkula, Hisar to be smart, inclusive cities
Khattar said the government is developing a global city near Manesar that will be the central business district of the National Capital Region. “Panchkula and Hisar will be developed as smart and inclusive cities,” said the chief minister.