Having faced a lean year in the backdrop of a slowdown in mining, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar sought refuge in a poem by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee which he quoted at the beginning of his budget speech.
“Hai dhyay door, sansar krur, madmatt chur, Path bhara shool, jeevan dukuul, Janani ke pag ke tanik dhool, Mathe par lekar chal diye hum madmaate, Dekho hum badhte jaate…” Parrikar read from the poem ‘Dekho Hum Badhte Chale’
This is Parrikar’s second budget speech after coming to power in March last year.
However, the task has been especially challenging given that the State is facing a revenue hit of `900 crore due to mining ban which is now into its sixth month.
Parrikar’s budget presented `10,053 crore with a fiscal deficit of `1457.15. “The thrust of my budget is on employment and infrastructure creation, both of which are interlinked,” Parrikar said.
Parrikar said that the State treasury lost as much as `1,400 crore in revenue losses due to the mining ban, which reflected in the poor revenue collections.
“The fiscal deficit has increased from `755.16 crore last year to `1457.15 crore, which is about 3.74 per cent of the State’s gross domestic product,” Parrikar said.
The Opposition has, however, called Parrikar’s annual financial exercise, a “chalta hai” budget.
“last year he had said that the agriculture sector would achieve six per cent growth. There is no indication that such a growth has been achieved. lands still appear fallow. This year too he said he would achieve that growth. I don’t think that this could be said to be too realistic,” Opposition leader Pratapsing Rane said.