Bhubaneswar: The state government Friday presented the Budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal with a total outlay of `1,39,000 crore with the promise to fulfil the aspiration of farmers and women and expedite Fani restoration.
Presenting the Budget, Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari said, “This budget focuses on boosting agriculture production and productivity; expanding irrigation; improving healthcare, education and skills for our people; investing in the youth; providing safe drinking water; sanitation; better livelihood opportunities; social security; electricity and rural connectivity to our people.”
Besides, restoration of damages caused by Cyclone Fani and creation of disaster-resilient physical assets would also be the government’s priority, he said. However, the government has not announced any new scheme in this Budget.
The total administrative expenditure is pegged at `57,310 crore, including `25,500 crore for salaries, `13,300 crore for pension, `6,500 crore for interest payments and `4,840 crore for maintenance of capital assets, Pujari said.
The programme expenditure outlay for the current financial year will be `74,600 crore. This includes an outlay of `70,600 crore for the government sector and `4,000 crore for the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), he said.
Provision of `4,600 crore has been made for Disaster Response Funds, while transfers from state to Local Bodies and Development Authorities will have an outlay of `6,490 crore. `3,457 crore has been provided for women and child development.
To execute and expedite restoration work in the aftermath of Cyclone Fani, the government has provided `4,600 for disaster management, of which `909 crore has been allotted under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and`3,691 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). In addition, provision of `441 crore has been made against year ending closing balance in SDRF, the minister said in his Budget speech.
Stating that education and imparting skills are key drivers of human development, Pujari proposed an allocation of `19,492 crore for the sector. Among the major schemes, `300 crore has been allocated for opening new Odisha Adarsh Vidyalayas, `2,828 crore for Samagra Sikhya Abhiyan, `844 crore for the Mid-day Meal scheme, `227 crore for construction of hostels and `1,425 crore for scholarship.
“To fulfil the dream of our esteemed Chief Minister vis-à-vis providing universal healthcare to the people of the state, we have launched the flagship scheme Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY),” he said, proposing a fund of `1,203 crore under the scheme for the current fiscal.
The Finance Minister also made provision of `5,000 crore to execute piped water supply projects in both urban and rural areas. He also provided `2,800 crore for Swachh Bharat Mission, `4,820 crore for rural housing schemes, `4,000 crore urban housing and `100 crore for Jaga Mission.
The government has also made provision of `3,457 crore for women and child development, including `305 crore under Mamata scheme, `130 crore for Mission Shakti houses, `301 crore under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojana and `2,095 crore under Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).
Besides, the government has provided `1,201 crore for execution of MGNREGA for the current year to create of rural employment, while a Corpus Fund of `500 crore has been created to facilitate timely payment of wages under the scheme as the Centre is not releasing the wage component timely.
In the Budget, the minister also proposed to transfer about`2,682 crore on the basis of the recommendations of 14th Finance Commission and about `1,898 crore on the recommendations of the 4th State Finance Commission, to the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the state.
State’s debt burden may exceed Rs 1.06L cr
With the passing of each year, the debt burden of the state government is increasing by at least `10,000 crore. The overall debt burden of the state may touch `1.06 lakh crore by end of the current fiscal. Briefing media persons here at the Assembly here, Finance Secretary AK Meena said the state government is estimated to borrow about `23,584 crore from various sources during the current fiscal. With these borrowings, the total debt burden on the state may touch `1.06 lakh crore, he said. As per the estimation of the state government, it will borrow `16,434 crore from the open market, about `1,000 crore from GPF, `1,400 crore through externally-aided projects and `4,750 crore through negotiations with agencies like National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). While the gross borrowing of Odisha will be `23,584 crore, the state will repay loan amounting `4,707 crore. As a result, the net borrowing will be about `18,877 crore, Meena said. According to an advance estimate, by end of 2018-19 fiscal, the total debt stock of the state was `79,800 crore, which may go up by another `2,000 crore after actual calculation. The estimated borrowing amount (Rs 1.06 lakh crore) is 19.7 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) against the permissible limit of 25 per cent, said Finance Secretary.
