Chandigarh, March 26 - Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that the State Government has worked to give a new vision to the state’s Budget 2022-23.
This is the ‘Diamond Budget’, in which the emphasis is on qualitative growth. Special focus was given on topics including Samartha Haryana, Antyodaya, Sustainable Development and Environment. This is the first time that the budget has been prepared after holding pre-budget meetings with Ministers, Economists and the learned section of the society as well as other stakeholders, he added.
The Chief Minister said this while discussing the important points related to the State Budget, which was recently passed in the Vidhan Sabha with the gathering during a programme held at Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology in Hisar on Saturday.
During this, the Chief Minister said that before presenting the Budget this time, suggestions were taken and as many as eight pre-budget meetings were held with 550 people.
After presenting the budget for the first time, eight committees of 74 MLAs were formed to hold detailed subject-wise discussions on the budget. Suggestions were invited from these committees, shared the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister further informed that the budget session that lasted from March 2 to March 22, 12 sittings were held which lasted for 50 hours and all the MLAs discussed several issues related to their constituencies.
“Our government has made budgetary allocation for every section and sector in this budget. Last year, a budget of Rs. 1, 53,000 crore was presented, while this year an amount of Rs. 1, 77,000 crore has been presented which shows an increase of 15 percent.
Haryana's budget prepared on fixed parameters
The Chief Minister said that the budget of any state is prepared on certain parameters, such as state’s deficit, how much has been spent and how much loans have been taken. The budget of Haryana is in accordance with the parameters set by the Central Government and the Reserve Bank, he added.
He further said that Haryana's Debt to GSDP ratio has been fixed at 25 percent, while the state is being able to cap this at 24 percent. This is below the GSDP limit and because of this loan many financial institutions are interested to give loans to the state at a 6 percent interest rate, said the Chief Minister
"If we talk about Punjab, then their Debt to GSDP ratio has reached 48 percent and due to this, Punjab is forced to take loans at the rate of 10 percent. Still, we believe that loans should be taken only as per the requirement, said Sh. Manohar Lal.
100 clusters to be formed for organic farming
Sh. Manohar Lal said that emphasis has been laid on qualitative improvement in this Budget. With the help of chemicals and medicines, the production of grains has certainly been increased however along with this, due to the excessive use of these chemicals, food items have become adulterated.
The goal of the government is to improve agriculture and farmers should move towards zero budget farming and organic farming. In this budget, formation of 100 clusters of 25 acres each has been announced to promote organic farming. Financial incentives for a period of three years would be provided to the farmers adoption this farming, informed the Chief Minister.
Ayurveda and Allopathy should work together
The Chief Minister said that in today’s era along with allopathic treatment there is a need to adopt the ancient medical system too, as sometimes the common man is not able to spend so much on the allopathic treatment. Therefore Yoga, Ayurveda and Allopathy need to work together.
For this any one university of the state will starting working on this. The government has also announced opening of 2,000 wellness centers in this Budget. Besides this, one Ayurvedic doctor, one yoga teacher and one dietician would be appointed in these wellness centers.
500 Sanskriti Model schools to be opened
Sh. Manohar Lal said that in this budget he has also emphasized on improving the standard of education and for this 500 model Sanskriti schools will be opened in the state. At present the number of these schools is only 138, he added.
The number of students in these schools has doubled. The government will also work with the private sector. The work will be done in collaboration with Public Private Partnership (PPP) as well as Government Community Partnership (GCP). Rest of the states will implement the education policy by 2030 while Haryana has set a target of implementing it by 2025, informed Sh. Manohar Lal.
Government’s aims to uplift the last person first
The Chief Minister said that the information system has been strengthened through Parivar Pehchan Patra. With this, every eligible person will get the benefit of the schemes being run by the Government, he added.
The State aims to make a capable Haryana so that benefits can reach at the bottom of the pyramid. Earlier, a family having an annual income of Rs. 1.20 lakh was considered as BPL this limit has now been increased upto 1.80 lakh. Apart from this, Antyodaya Melas are being organized to increase the income of the families having an income of Rs.1 lakh, Sh. Manohar Lal.
The Chief Minister said that far these Melas have been successfully organized in two phases. More than 250 camps were organized for this and around 1.80 lakh people participated in these Melas. Out of this, applications of half of the people have been approved and they will soon be getting the loan.
The motto of the previous governments was to benefit those on the top of the pyramid, while we aim to uplift the last person first, said Sh. Manohar Lal.
Emphasis on sustainable development and environmental protection
The Chief Minister said that 17 parameters of sustainable development have also been included in this budget. Continuous work will be done on issues like poverty, hunger, development, water etc. Utmost care has been give to ensure availability of land, water, forest and clean environment to the coming generations.
Last time 700 rechargeable wells were announced but this time we have announced 5000 rechargeable wells. We need to conserve water and for this every section of the society has to come forward. Sowing of paddy has to be reduced. An incentive of Rs. 7000 per acre is being given to the farmers for adopting crop diversification. Last year the paddy sowing was decreased on 1 lakh acres and the famers were encouraged to adopt crop diversification, informed the Chief Minister.
Now every district will have a medical college
The Chief Minister said that the State Government had already announced constructing a medical college in every district. Work in this direction was going on in all the districts except four, while in this Budget, the announcement has been made for setting up medical colleges in these four districts as well. With the construction of these medical colleges the number of MBBS seats will increase to 3,000 he added.
The Chief Minister said that this Budget was for all sections. The leaders of the opposition also had to struggle to find any error in the Budget.
Urban Local Bodies and Housing Minister, Dr. Kamal Gupta, Rajya Sabha MP, Sh. D.P Vats, MLA, Sh. Vinod Bhayana, Deputy Speaker, Sh. Ranbir Gangwa, Vice-Chancellor, Sh. B.R Kamboj, Registrar, Sh. Avneesh Verma, teachers and students of the university also remained present in this programme.