Chandigarh, December 5- Haryana Chief Minister Sh Manohar Lal said that the state budget for the year 2023-24 will be for the welfare of every section of the society.

He said the main focus in the next budget will be on promoting the key areas including education, health, rural development, environment, etc.

"We will bring a good and balanced budget after holding consultation meetings with all the stakeholders," said Sh. Manohar Lal while addressing the media after participating in the discussion programme on State Finance Management and Budget organized by the Haryana Vidhan Sabha in Panchkula today.

Responding to the media query on the state debt, , the Chief Minister said that the economic condition of Haryana is better than other states and the state government is taking loans within the prescribed limit according to the State Gross Domestic Product.

"At present, the loan limit is 3.52 percent, which we will try to bring down to 3 percent," said Sh. Manohar Lal.

The Chief Minister said that the Haryana government is doing dedicated work for the welfare of the people. More and more development works are being done. The income of the government is also increasing every year and the government is spending the same amount for the welfare of the people, he added.

For instance, he said, under the old age pension scheme in the state, elderly people are being given financial benefits at the rate of Rs 2500 per month, which is the highest in the country.

CHIRAYU Haryana scheme launched to provide health security to every needy

The Chief Minister said that under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, according to the annual income limit of Rs 1.20 lakh fixed by the Central Government, other states have given benefits to the beneficiaries in their states. While the Haryana government has taken a step ahead for public welfare and has increased the income limit to Rs 1.80 lakh, due to which now other eligible beneficiaries of the state have also come under the ambit of this scheme.

"We have named this scheme CHIRAYU Haryana and under this scheme, the state government will bear the additional financial burden of more than Rs 500 crore," said Sh. Manohar Lal.

In response to another question, the Chief Minister said that this time also pre-budget consultation meetings would be held with the stakeholders. Today's training programme is the first phase, in which the legislators will be informed about all the nitty-gritty related to the budget by the experts.

Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Sh. Gian Chand Gupta and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sh. Kanwar Pal also remained present on this occasion.