Focus on health, agri, edu in Hry Budget

Strap: Free Class IX-XII education Social pension hiked to Rs2,500

Key takeaways

Outlay: Rs1,55,645 cr (Rs1,37,738 cr in 2020-21)

Deficit: Rs29,193 cr (Rs20,856 cr in 2020-21)

Deby liability up 30K cr

Rs1,99,823 cr Rs2,29,976 cr

March 2021 March 2022

Sectoral allocation

Agriculture

Rs6,110 cr

Rs100 cr for Sutlej-Yamuna link canal

“Har khet, swasth khet” scheme to improve soil health

Social sector

Hike in old age pension from Rs2,250 to Rs2,500 per month from April 1

CM antyodya plan to uplift standard of poorest 1 lakh familes

Education

“KG to PG” scheme to facilitate education from nursery to post-graduation in a single institution

Scheme to be launched from Kurukshetra University and MDU, Rohtak

Free education in govt schools for students of Class IX-XII

Health

New medical colleges in Jind, Kaithal, Yamunanagr, Faridabad, Jind, Kaithal, Mahendragarh and Sirsa

Increasing bed-strength in govt hospitals from 100 to 200

Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 12

Recovering from a Covid-hit financial year, the Haryana Government today presented a Rs 1.56 lakh crore Budget for the 2021-22 fiscal with health, agriculture and infrastructure as key priority areas to revitalise the state economy.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who also holds the finance portfolio, presented his second Budget in the Assembly here. No new taxes have been announced.

Khattar proposed a Budget of Rs 1,55,645 crore, which was 13 per cent more than the last fiscal’s Rs 1,37,738 crore. The outlay comprises 25 per cent (Rs 38,718 crore) as capital expenditure of and 75 per cent (Rs 1,16,927 crore) as revenue expenditure.

“We have managed to increase our Budget by 13 per cent despite decline in revenue due to Covid between April and September last year. The deficit continues to be around 3.83 per cent,” he said.

The revenue deficit is estimated to be at Rs 29,193 crore (about 3.29 per cent of GSDP) compared to Rs 20,856 crore in the current fiscal. The government said the deficit would be met through borrowings.

The CM announced the establishment of a reserve fund of Rs 8,585 crore as medium term expenditure framework (MTEF). Since strengthening the state economy through capital investment is the prime focus, the fund would be spent on projects of key sectors that have long gestation period and inter-sectoral implications.

In the backdrop of the ongoing farmers’ protests against the Centre’s farm laws, Khattar said his government needed to continue assistance to farmers for paving the way for Haryana’s economic growth.

The outlay of Rs 6,110 crore for 2021-22 indicates an increase of 20.9 per cent against the last fiscal’s Rs 5,052 crore. “We are indebted to our farmers, whose toil and hard work has made Haryana the food bowl of the country. We are committed to doubling farmers’ income,” he said.

While announcing a special campaign, “Har khet, swasth khet”, he said soil health and facilitating cropping choices would be the focus.

Making special mention of the Sutlej-Yamuna link canal, Khattar announced an allocation of Rs 100 crore. In his speech that went on for over 2.5 hours, he announced the launch of the Mukhyamantri Antyodya Parivar Utthan Abhiyan to identify the poorest one lakh familes and uplift their standard to reach a minimum income threshold of Rs 1.80 lakh per annum.

The CM announced hike in old age pension from Rs 2,250 to Rs 2,500 per month from April 1, insurance through an umbrella scheme for providing compensation in case of death due to accident or any untoward incident among others.

In a novel initiative, Haryana will roll out a “KG to PG” programme whereby a child can avail education from nursery to post-graduation in a single institution. This system will be launched from Kurukshetra University and MDU, Rohtak. Also, students of Class IX to XII will be provided free education in government schools.

New medical colleges in Jind, Kaithal, Yamunanagr, Faridabad, Jind, Kaithal, Mahendragarh and Sirsa, a dental college at the hospital in Nuh, increasing the bed-strength in government hospitals from 100 to 200, developing Pinjore and Gurugram as film shooting locations are among other initiative on the cards for the coming year.

On how the government intends to fund the various initiatives, the CM said the government would have to rely on debt to make good the shortfall.