65,000 regular posts to be filled

Ravinder Saini

Chandigarh, February 23

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, during his Budget address, announced that recruitment on at least 65,000 regular posts, including group C and D, through the common eligibility tests (CET) would be made in 2023-24. To improve the admission of girl students in industrial training institutes (ITIs), he proposed to provide a financial assistance of Rs 2,500 to every girl child having annual family income up to Rs 3 lakh on taking admission in government ITIs.

10% hike in pension for senior citizens, widows & handicapped

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• The CM announced the increase in the pension given to senior citizens, widows and the handicapped from Rs 2,500 to Rs 2,750/month
• The income eligibility limit for ‘Old Age Samman Allowance’, which is Rs 2L per annum for self and spouse, has been raised to Rs 3L per annum based on Parivar Pehchan Patra data
• The old-age pension has been a political issue as the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which is an alliance partner of the BJP, had promised to raise it Rs 5,100 per month in its manifesto
• At present, there are 29.71 lakh beneficiaries of pensions for old age, widows & handicapped
• The beneficiary is automatically identified based on PPP data on attaining the age of 60 years and the benefit is provided based on the consent provided by the intended beneficiary, said the Chief Minister

The government has also planned to implement skill education from Classes VI to VIII from the academic session 2023-24 in the integration of the skill education with school education.

To take skill building to every corner of the state, skill schools using spare infrastructure of government schools, ITIs and government polytechnics will be set up. These schools will be affiliated with Shri Vishwakarma Skill University

“To take skilling to every corner of the state, skill schools using the spare infrastructure of government schools, ITIs and government polytechnics will be set up. These schools will be affiliated with Shri Vishwakarma Skill University (SVSU), which will accredit, specify the skill training, assess and certify the skill trainees in these schools. The existing faculty in these institutions will be trained by the SVSU for imparting skill training,” said Khattar.

Site for additional Assembly

The state government has identified a site in Chandigarh to construct an additional complex for the Vidhan Sabha, keeping in view the space crunch at the existing building, also shared by Punjab. The Chief Minister also proposed to construct a multi-storeyed housing complex for residential housing for government employees in Chandigarh in 2023-24.

‘Prahari’ for THOSE above 80

For 3.3 lakh persons above 80 years, the government has started ‘Prahari’ scheme. Under the scheme, government servants will visit them every two months. “Based on the personal visit, the next steps, including medical support or protection of property etc, will be taken by the government agency concerned,” said the Chief Minister.

more loans at Antyodaya Melas

During the current year, 36,993 families, who have income less than Rs 1 lakh per annum, have been sanctioned loans through Antyodaya Melas. For 2023-24, a target of 2 lakh families has been fixed and they will be provided funding from banks for up to Rs 1 lakh, for which Rs 2,000 crore will be set aside in consultation with banks.

He said the higher education system had witnessed an impressive growth in recent years and this trend was expected to continue in the coming years.

The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in the higher education in the state is 32 per cent, hence a target of reaching GER of 40 per cent by 2030 had been fixed. The government proposed to allocate Rs 20,339 to the education sector for 2023-24, an increase of over 3 per cent over the revised estimates of Rs 19,698 crore for current year.

As per the government proposal, the Haryana Skill Development Mission will impart skill training in National Skill Qualification Framework-aligned job roles to two lakh unemployed youths through specific training and courses for recognition of prior learning in 2023-24. Apart from the traditional job roles, a special focus will be given to skill training in modern industry-related job roles and emerging technologies. Incubation Centres will be set up to promote entrepreneurship and encourage start-ups among the youth. A Venture Capital Fund in association with banks and financial institutions will be set up to provide financial support through loans and equity to start-up entrepreneurs who are women or come from families with an annual income of up to Rs 1.80 lakh or belong to the Scheduled Castes or Backward Classes. The Venture Capital Fund will assist the youth in becoming entrepreneurs where the project cost is up to Rs 5 crore. It will have a corpus of Rs 200 crore. The selection of beneficiaries under the Venture Capital Fund will be done by a group of experts in industry and entrepreneurship with the involvement of government officers.

LEADER SPEAK

Boost for industry, jobs

The Budget will encourage industrial investments and open new avenues for employing youth. A special focus has been laid on attracting external investors. — Dushyant Chautala, Deputy CM

Visionless document

The projects that are already in progress have been mentioned again. It is a visionless Budget. The debt is rising, and not much would be left for building medical colleges. BB Batra, Congress chief WHIP

‘Garibon Ka Kaal’ Budget

For Nuh district, all the old announcements have been reiterated, but where is the allocation? It is not a ‘Amrit Kaal’ Budget but ‘Garibon Ka Kaal’ Budget. Aftab Ahmed, Deputy CLP Leader

Very less hike in outlay

The 11% increase shown in the total Budget is actually an increase of a mere 3.63%. Of Rs 1.83 lakh crore Budget, Rs 35,220 crore will be used to repay loan. Abhay Singh Chautala, INLD General Secy