The new dispensation at the helm is looking pretty clear to move away from the dole culture in the line of poverty alleviation. Chief Minister Raghubar Das gave sufficient hint that the task would be completed through skill development and employment generation in various sectors.
Addressing a Press conference after presenting annual Budget of Jharkhand for 2015-16 on Tuesday, Das also stressed over asset building from the funds the State would be getting in the form of its share in mineral biddings.
“Poverty is not going to end by subsidies but by upgrading skills. Skill development is the priority of the Government. Seventeen departments are working in this area and we are also incorporating PSUs and corporate sectors to pitch in. Also, Jharkhand is set to get Rs14,000 crore from coal blocks auctions as 85 per cent of the money is to come to the State’s kitty apart from royalty. We are not going to waste the money for the apathy of our coming generation but use it for building assets for them,” said the CM. The State would also get 42 per cent share in taxes as per the recommendations of the 13th finance commission.
The CM presented a revenue surplus budget for the next fiscal where expenditure is lower than revenue receipts and fiscal deficit is under the provisions of FRBM Act. “There is immense possibility for economic development in the State. We are preparing some long term plans which would have far reaching impact on economy. This would improve economic growth, spending, revenue, purchasing power and scope of employment,” added Das.
Counting on priorities, the CM said that infrastructure development would be thrust area in the days to come along with administrative reforms by the application of e-governance and online grievance redressal system. “Industry, agriculture and information technology would be the three pillars of governance,” said he and mentioned that Jharkhand is set to get first Sport University of the country and Cabinet note for this has been moved with allocation of Rs 74 crore.
Chief Secretary Rajiv Gauba stressed on PPP mode for schemes in agriculture, road construction and sports. “We are going to do a lot of work in farm sectors on PPP mode. On execution front, we need to fill vacancies and improve the system to approve the schemes,” he said. Finance Secretary Rajbala Verma said that industry and service sectors are generating sufficient GSDP while agriculture with Rs 806 crore is below from the national average.
However, leader of Opposition Hemant Soren termed the budget an illusion and fake. “The Government has tried to fool the people. It is looking more like a manifesto than a budget. There is no clarity on the spending on schemes. It is meant for business people and not for poor and farmers,” he said in his reaction.
Meanwhile, reacting to the budget, JPCC president Sukhdeo Bhagat said that it was more idealistic than realistic. “There was no mention of sources of revenue in the budget. Goals are there but how will the revenue be generated to achieve the goals is missing. The finance minister should have made his priorities clear in the budget whether they are food, house and cloth for the poor or Smart City and ITIJ There are doubts over the execution of the schemes because the roadmap of execution is not clear,” Bhagat said.
Jharkhand Vikas Morcha leader Pradeep Yadav flayed the budget saying that the priorities of the government did not include rural development, agriculture, irrigation, education and energy. “The size of the budget has increased manifolds but the budget with all tall claims of government is unlikely to give any direction to the State towards development,” said Yadav.
The Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) stated that the state budget was a balanced one. It welcomed the steps, including development of TVNl and PTPS by NTPC, approving Ranchi-Bokaro expressway, decrease of VAT on raw materials, freeing Dharmshalas from luxury tax etc. It stated that the budget did not have anything new for industries this year.
FJCCI president Ratan Modi hailed the budget and said that the moves taken by the government to decrease VAT on plywood, blackboard, flush-door, laminates, development of RIMS on the pattern of AIIMS, development of tourism in the State etc were very good.