Himachal Budget: Thrust on social sector, education, healthcare

Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service
Shimla, March 6

Working under the shadow of a galloping debt trap of Rs 55,737 crores, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur chose to lay stress on social sector and qualitative improvement of education and health sectors rather than being too populist in the budget for the year 2020-21 he presented in the Vidhan Sabha today.

Thakur, who also holds the Finance portfolio, presented a tax-free Budget of Rs 49,131 crore for the year 2020-21 in the Vidhan Sabha today, announcing 25 new schemes. Thakur’s 76-page Budget speech in Hindi was laced with more than a dozen couplets as he quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee several times. He took two hours and 43 minutes to complete the budget speech, amidst thumping of tables by treasury benches.

Thakur also became the first Chief Minister to present the budget online as instead of reading from a hard copy he read from a laptop. With the Lok Sabha and two assembly by-polls over in 2019, Thakur clearly desisted from making populist announcement, with next assembly polls being almost three years away.

His wife Dr Sadhna Thakur, former Speaker Gangu Ram Musafir and some former BJP legislators sat in the VIP gallery while Budget was being presented.

The total revenue receipts in the Budget are estimated to be Rs 38,439 crores while revenue expenditure has been pegged at Rs 39,123 crores. The grim financial health of the state was clearly reflected in the fiscal deficit which stands at Rs 7,272 crores. There is an 11 per cent increase in revenue receipts from state’s own sources. The annual plan for 2020-21 has been pegged at Rs 7,900 crore which is RS 800 crore higher from the previous year, indicating an enhancement of 11 per cent.

Interestingly, only Rs 41.22 out of every Rs 100 will be left for development works with salaries (Rs 26.66), pension (Rs 14.79), interest payment (Rs 10.04) and loan repayment (Rs 7.29) being major chunk of the budget. Mounting debt trap of Rs 55,373 crores is the biggest worry of the government with little sources of revenue generation. The budget was practically silent on resource mobilization but on the employment scenario the Chief Minister spoke of filling of 20,000 vacant posts, including 1,000 posts of constables as the figure of jobless youth has touched 8.50 lakh.

A major highlight of the budget was naming of several schemes as Swaran Jayanti, with Himachal all set to celebrate its gold jubilee, as it attained statehood in 1971. These three schemes include Swaran Jayanti Super 100 providing Rs 1 lakh to 100 toppers in matriculation, Swaran Jayanti Utkrisht Viyalaya Yojna for 68 schools and Swaran Jayanti Gyanodaya Cluster Sreshth Vihyalaya for quality education in elementary schools. A major relief has been announced in the social sector with additional 50,000 persons to get benefit of social security pension with a total outlay of Rs 766 crore.

Agriculture total allocation Rs1,024 cr
Rs20 crore for creation of ‘krishi kosh’ for seed money, interest subvention and credit guarantee cover
One lakh farmers to be covered under Subhash Palekar natural farming system

EDUCATION total allocation Rs8,106 cr

Rs15 crore to be spent on providing modern facilities in 100 cluster schools

100 top students to be provided Rs1 lakh each for preparation of entrance exams

Health total allocation Rs2,702 cr

Mammography facility in all district hospitals Rs100 crore for providing free medicines
Free ayurvedic medicines for aged 60 years and above

Roads total allocation Rs3,986 cr

Wayside amenities policy for commuters along state and national highways
Rs44 crore to be spent on erection of crash barriers and widening of roads in accident-prone areas

Home/Law total allocation Rs1,729 cr

1,000 posts of constable to be filled 
Vigilance police station to be set up at Baddi to check corruption
176 vehicles will be equipped with mounted cameras and 500 body worn cameras will be purchased

Transport total allocation Rs1,013 cr

Expansion of airports at Gaggal in Kagra and Jubbarhatti in Shimla
Construction of a new airport under the Green Field project in Mandi
5 new heliports for helli taxi service and Chamba to be under Udaan -II

How every Rs100 will be spent
Development Rs41.22
Salaries of employees Rs26.66
Pension of retired employees Rs14.79
Interest payment on loans Rs10.04
Loan repayment Rs7.29

The Budget will not help in pulling the state out of slowdown. How the populist announcements will be fulfilled. No intent has been shown to increase resources. There is no relief for farmers, employees and unemployed youth — Virbhadra Singh, former CM

It is historic, pro-poor and for weaker sections which will script a new chapter of development. A sincere effort has been made for the growth of farmers and horticulturists, strengthening infrastructure and bringing improvement in education. — Rajiv Bindal, BJP chief