Special pension for
farmers & workers
V.P. Prabhakar
Captain Abhimanyu presented Budget in the Assembly
With no new taxes imposed, the
Haryana Finance Minister, Capt
Abhimanyu, on Februray 25, presented
a please-all budget in the Haryana
Vidhan Sabha. This was the last budget
of the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP
government for 2019-20 while keeping
the budget size of Rs 1.32 lakh crore
with focus on farm sector, skill
development, civil aviation,
employment, science and technology
and town and country planning.
This is the fifth budget of the present
government coming barely a few
months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections as also Assembly
elections.
The state government has earmarked Rs 1500 crore for
a special pension it announced for the farmers and the workers in unorganized sector.
Captain Abhimanyu said the
Haryana GSDP is estimated to grow by
8.2 per cent in 2019-20, which is
higher than India’s GDP growth rate of
7.2 per cent in the same year. The
GSDP at constant prices is estimated
at Rs 5.26 lakh crore and Rs 7.07 lakh
crore at current prices in 2018-19. Per
Capita Income (PCI) at the constant
prices is estimated as Rs 1,68,209 in
2018-19, greater than the national PCI
of Rs 91,921. The PCI at the current
prices is estimated to be Rs 2,26,644
in 2018-19. According to CRISIL, Haryana is one of the only
two states in India that registered both high GSDP growth
and high GVA growth in employment intensive sectors,
higher than the national average.
New Schemes
The government introduced new schemes to provide
financial and social security cover to the families of
cultivating farmers in possession of land up to 5 acres and
for the families of workers in the unorganized sector with
the family income of less than Rs 15,000 per month. In the
case of farmers, this will be in addition to the Pradhan
Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme
announced by Central government of India. An outlay of Rs 1,500 crore is provided in this budget for these schemes.
In recognition of the yeoman contribution being made
by 'dastkars', 'kameras' and other artisans in terms of
providing employment and livelihoods at the grass-root
level. Conscious of their economic needs, the government
has proposed to provide a rebate of Rs 2.00/KWh up to a
connected load of 10KWh in A and B blocks in addition to
the rebate of Rs 2.00/KWh up to a connected load of 20
KWh already being provided in C and D blocks.
New initiatives
The government also intends to constitute the Haryana
State Audit & Accounts Services to facilitate better
management and accountability of public finance and
effective implementation of the proposed legislation. An
output-outcome framework for Budget 2019-20 that will
align public spending with the achievement of
Sustainable Development Goals and Haryana Vision-2030.
“Performance Linked Outlay” has been introduced to
ensure efficient and prudent utilization of resources. Onetime exercise was conducted to ascertain the amount
of funds lying idle with the concerned organizations. The
government has been able to unearth unutilized money
in significant amounts. Banks to provide a plethora of
benefits to government employees under corporate
salary package. Under this scheme, four banks --- SBI,
HDFC, PNB and HARCO Bank --- have been selected for
providing benefits such as natural death cover of Rs 2
lakh, medical facility of the order of Rs 50,000 and
accidental insurance to employees up to Rs 30 lakh.