Chhattisgarh Government is working vigorously for public interest and development of the state
Chief Minister addressed people of the state in the 28th episode of his monthly radio talk ‘Lokvaani’
Expansion of budget-size to more than one lakh crore is a matter of pride for every Chhattisgarhia
Budget provisions made in proportion to the population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Provision of Rs 20 thousand 405 crore for agriculture budget
Despite the impact of COVID crisis and reduction in State’s share of GST and Central taxes, a Revenue Surplus Budget has been presented
An amount of Rs 600 crore provisioned for Mahatma Gandhi Rural Industrial Park
Examination fee for Special Junior Staff Selection Board, along with PSC and Vyapam, waived off
State’s debt is steadily decreasing: Capital expenditure on steep rise
Fiscal deficit is being consistently minimized: estimated to be only 2.55% of the GSDP in year 2022-23
Implementation of Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana to be continued in the coming years as well
Raipur, 17 April 2022 / In his address to people of the state during the 28th episode of his monthly radio talk ‘Lokvaani’ today, Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel said that our new budget will determine the direction of development for Nava Chhattisgarh. Public participation will have an important role in the growth and progress of the state. Our government is consistently working for public interest and the development of the state. Despite the impact of COVID crisis and the reduction in State’s share of GST and Central taxes, Chhattisgarh Government has presented a budget of revenue surplus. The debt burden and fiscal deficit of the state are continuously decreasing and the capital expenditure is on all-time high. Today’s episode of Lokvaani was focused on the topic ‘Nava Chhattisgarh, New Budget’. This is so far the biggest budget presented by the state government, ever since the state of Chhattisgarh was formed. Presently, the size of the state budget is Rs one lakh 12 thousand 603 crore 40 lakh.
Chief Minister gave a series of answers to the queries of the audience in Lokvaani and informed about the strong economic status of Chhattisgarh state. Certainly, it is a matter of pride for every Chhattisgarhiya that the budget size of the state has crossed the mark of Rs 1 lakh crore. State government’s budget for the financial year 2022-23 includes the provisions in proportion to the population of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, while the social and economic sectors have also been given the due attention. Our priority regarding the agriculture sector is very vocal. In the year 2022-23, an amount of Rs 20 thousand 405 crores has been provisioned for the agriculture budget. We are moving forward by ensuring optimal utilization of our resources, value-addition, fair value to the dedication and hard work of our toiling people and right price for the production in the state. This strategy is proving to be a catalyst in the economic growth of the state.
Chief Minister extended greetings of various festivals to people of the state
Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel commenced his address to the today’s episode of Lokvaani in Chhattisgarhi language. He said- “Jammo Saiyan-Jawan, Dai-Didi, Noni-Babu Man La Jai Johar. Jai Siyaram”. He further said – “Greetings to all of you on the occasion of Ram Navami, Dr. Ambedkar Jayanti, Mahavir Jayanti, Baisakhi, Hatkeshwar Jayanti, Shrimad Vallabhacharya Jayanti, Eid-ul-Fitr. The ancient name of our Chhattisgarh is Dakshin Kosal. Lord Ram is considered as nephew in Chhattisgarh. And to further strengthen this connection of Lord Ram, Mata Kaushalya, Sita Mata, and Lav-kush with Chhattisgarh, we are developing Ram Van Gaman Path Tourism Circuit. The memoirs of Lord Ram are being developed, renovated and beautified under Ram Van Gaman Path Project over the area of 2 thousand 660 kms from Koriya to Sukma district. In the first phase, nine locations were developed. Two of these places have been inaugurated. Inauguration of development works in Chandkhuri and Shivrinarayan shows that we are on the path shown by Maryada Purushottam Ram”.
In today’s episode, Shri Umakant Verma of Malda village of Raipur district congratulated Chief Minister for presenting a budget of more than Rs 1 lakh crore for Chhattisgarh. Shri Rajesh Vaswani of Raipur congratulated him for presenting the budget of surplus revenue and not imposing any new tax on the traders in the budget despite the COVID crisis.
Chief Minister said that there was a time when the UPA government of Delhi would give a bigger amount to the state, more than what the Centre has been providing now, but still the state could not have a surplus budget. Presently, State and Centre’s amount in the budget is almost equal. Besides, the problems related to GST have intensified. Despite all these challenged, we have successfully made a budget of surplus on the basis of the efficiency of our state.
Budget Provision of 37% for the social sector
In response to the question of priorities in the budget asked by Amrapali Sahare of Ranveerpur of Kabeerdham district, Chief Minister said that the population of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes in our state is about 45 percent. In the total provision of our budget, 33 percent has been allocated for Scheduled Tribes and 12 percent for Scheduled Castes. If we look at the social and economic sector, we have allocated 40 percent of the provisions for the economic sector, and about 37 percent for the social sector as well.
Sanjay Jain of Rajnandgaon asked about the status of State’s debt, to which Chief Minister Mr. Baghel answered that on December 17, 2018, we had inherited a debt of Rs 41 thousand 695 crores. After the formation of our government, the increase in net debt is Rs 42 thousand 528 crores. Major reason behind this increase is the non-payment of GST compensation by the Government of India. We were asked to take GST loan. If the Centre had paid GST compensation on time, we would not have to take the loan of Rs 8 thousand 642 crore, including GST loan of Rs 8 thousand 74 crore and special central assistance loan of Rs 568 crore received from the Government of India in the year 2020-21 and 2021-22. On subtracting this, the net loan taken by the government is only Rs 33 thousand 886 crores. In last three years, Central Government has reduced the state’s share in central taxes from the central government by Rs 13 thousand 89 crore and the revenue hike has not been as expected because of the COVID-crisis. These are the major reasons why State Government had to take the loan. We took a net loan of Rs 8 thousand 71 crore in the year 2021-22. In the budget of the year 2022-23, the net debt has been reduced further to Rs 7 thousand 100 crores. Thus the pressure of loan on the state is continuously being reduced. These loans are being utilized to benefit the farmers and needy families and to strengthen the economy. In this way, while we have been able to reduce the debt burden gradually, on the other hand, we have not allowed the works of public interest to stop.
Expansion of Health facilities despite many challenges
Rahul Bhai Patel of Chirmiri in Koriya district asked Chief Minister about the capital expenditure, to which he responded saying that the capital expenditure for the year 2021-22 was Rs 14 thousand 191 crore and for the year 2022-23 it is Rs 15 thousand 241 crore. Thus, there has been a steady increase in the capital expenditure. It has been only three years since our government took charge. Before that the previous government worked under normal circumstances, the state was getting equal amount of entitlement from the Center, and the pandemic had not struck yet, but despite no major challenges, the capital expenditure in the main budget of the state was only around Rs 15 thousand crores and if we calculate 15-year average, the number would be even lower. Anyway, in a situation like COVID crisis, State Government’s priority was to expand healthcare facilities, ensure availability of medicines, treatment facilities, expand hospitals, make arrangements for livelihood, and the biggest priority of such times is relief work. But despite the challenged we maintained the capital expenditure. So you have faith, our government is working hard dedicatedly for the public interest and development of the state, said Chief Minister to Rahul Bhai Patel.
In response to the question asked by Dr. Suraj Kumar Gohil of Korba regarding the financial deficit, Chief Minister Mr. Baghel said that in year 2021-22, the gross financial deficit was Rs 15 thousand 257 crores. For the year 2022-23, it has been reduced to an estimated Rs 14 thousand 600 crores. This includes the amount of 50 year interest free loan worth Rs 3 thousand 400 crore, on reducing which it will come down to Rs 11 thousand 200 crore, which will be only 2.55 percent of the state’s GSDP for the year 2022-23. This is much less than the limit of 3 per cent prescribed under the FRBM Act. Therefore, the fiscal deficit is also continuously being reduced. Chief Minister said that the confidence with which the people have entrusted the reins of the government in our hands, we are working hard to fulfill that trust and its success is in front of you.
State Government will not go back down on its promises under any circumstances
Shri Shubham Das Baghel from Gram-G Jamgaon of Dhamtari district wanted to know whether Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana would continue in the new financial year, and Mahesh Kumar Baghel of Village Bargai of Kondagaon district wanted to know about the provisions made for the development of forest and rural areas in the new budget. Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel said that for ‘Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana’, we have made a provision of Rs.6 thousand crore this year as well. This means that implementation of the scheme will be continued. An amount of Rs 11 thousand 180 crore has been provided through this scheme in the last two years.
Mr. Baghel assured people that the State Government will not back down from its promise under any circumstances. We have managed to provide paddy farmers Rs 2500 per quintal with the help of various schemes. The minimum support price for sugarcane has been increased from Rs 271 to Rs 355 per quintal. There is a budget provision of Rs 123 crore under ‘Krishak Samagra Vikas Yojana’ to provide certified seeds of high quality to the farmers. A budget provision of Rs 200 crore has been made for ‘Chirag Project’. Grant-in-aid will be given to farmers for cultivation of fruits and flowers and vegetables. Integrated pack house will be set up for safe storage of agricultural and horticultural crops. A provision of Rs 575 crore has been made for crop insurance scheme and Rs 470 crore for food security mission, drip and sprinkler and agricultural equipment. The Chief Minister said that in order to give a new direction to the rural economy, we are also keeping our promise to develop Gauthans as Mahatma Gandhi Rural Industrial Parks. A provision of Rs 600 crore has been made for basic infrastructure here.
In the today’s episode of Lokvaani, Mr. Pawan Das Manikpuri of Mahasamund, Jhalp said that resumption of the old pension scheme has given us a new hope. Shri Tikesh Sahu of Raipur, Mowa thanked the Chief Minister for waiving the examination fee of PSC and Vyapam. Mrs. Ranjana Jaiswal of Surajpur, Kuruwa wanted to know about the announcement of increasing the honorarium of public representatives and development fund.
Efforts to make every section of the society financially independent
Chief Minister said that we are a public welfare government. I believe that it is our duty to make every section of the society financially independent. I have announced in the budget that PSC and Vyapam will no longer charge examination fee to their candidates. In addition to that we have also waived off the examination fee for the examinations conducted through the Special Junior Staff Selection Board. In this way we have gone a step further to help the youth. An announcement has been made to include Manjhi, Baiga, Gunia, Pujari to Haat Paharya, Baja Mohariya etc. under ‘Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Bhumiheen Krishi Mazdoor Nyay Yojana’. The annual assistance to all the eligible beneficiaries of this scheme has been increased from Rs.6 thousand to Rs.7 thousand. Provision has been made to increase the honorarium of government advocates.
Revolutionary provisions from MLA funds to three-tier Panchayat Raj Institutions
The amount of MLA fund has been increased from Rs 2 crores to Rs 4 crores. The honorarium of District Panchayat Presidents has been increased from Rs 15 thousand to Rs 25 thousand, the honorarium of District Panchayat Vice-Presidents has been increased from Rs 10 thousand to Rs 15 thousand and the honorarium of District Panchayat members has been increased from Rs 6 thousand to Rs 10 thousand per month. The honorarium of Janpad Panchayat Presidents has been increased from Rs 6 thousand to Rs 10 thousand, the honorarium of Janpad Panchayat Vice-Presidents has been increased from Rs 4 thousand to Rs 6 thousand and the honorarium of Janpad Panchayat members has been increased from Rs 1500 to Rs 5 thousand per month. The allowance of Sarpanch has been increased from Rs.2000 to Rs.4,000 and that of Panches from Rs.200 to Rs.500 per month. Under the development fund, a provision of Rs 15 lakhs has been made for District Panchayat presidents, Rs 10 lakhs for the vice-presidents and Rs 4 lakhs per annum for the members. A provision has also been made to give Rs 5 lakh to Janpad panchayat presidents, Rs 3 lakh to vice-presidents and Rs 2 lakh per year to members as development fund. Similarly, besides doubling the honorarium of the Mayor, Chairman, Speaker, Vice President and Councilors, the development fund will be increased by one and a half times. In this way, we have made revolutionary provisions to improve the performance, from MLAs to three-tier Panchayat Raj Institutions. In order to further empower the Gram Panchayats, a provision has also been made for the operation of sand mines in the notified areas by the Panchayats.
More than 30 thousand hectares of land marked as orange zone in Bastar division
About the steps taken to provide employment opportunities to the youth, Chief Minister Mr. Baghel said that 30 thousand 439 hectare land out of orange forest area in the districts of Bastar division has been registered back under revenue head. With this, the residents can be provided leases for agriculture and business, and new industries can be established. This would also ensure easy availability of lands will for construction of government buildings, development of roads and railways and other works. Chief Minister Silk Mission will be commenced in this zone. We have made abundant provisions to develop Gauthans as Rural Industrial Parks, to establish C-mart in every urban body area, to promote women self-help groups, to carry forward various works of infrastructure development. Employment opportunities are also been created in forest areas through procurement of 65 forest produce on support price, use of CAMPA item, participation of forest management committees etc. Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, Mukhyamantri Samagra Grameen Vikas Yojana, Utthan Project, Milap Project etc. will further develop new means of livelihood in rural areas. Mr. Madan Tirkey of Jashpur had wanted to know about the initiatives taken in the budget of the year 2022-23 for local youth as well as employment in forest areas, rural areas.
As many as 1100 posts approved for the new districts
Chief Minister said that as far as the jobs are concerned, as many as 1100 posts have been approved for the new districts, 161 posts have been approved for the new tehsils and sub-divisions, 350 posts have been approved for new police posts and police stations, and114 posts have been approved for security of Bilaspur and Jagdalpur airports. Likewise, for health services, recruitment on 2 thousand 409 posts has been done in 2 years and 195 new posts have been created, which will be further increased as per the requirement. Besides, youth will be benefited from the formation of a new cadre named District Strike Force, under which they will get the benefits of salary allowances, promotion etc. as assistant constables in Bastar division.
Budget provision of Rs 150 crore has been made for Mukhyamantri Sugam Sadak Yojana
Bharti Tamrakar of Mungeli district wanted to know the budget provisions made for infrastructure, education, health. In response to which, Chief Minister Mr. Baghel said that budget provision worth Rs 150 crores has been made for Mukhyamantri Sugam Sadak Yojana, to meet various demands of people. This budget provisioned will be utilized for connecting the government buildings like schools, hospitals, Anganbadi with paved roads. Roads costing crores of rupees will be built under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and various schemes of Public Works Department. Special provisions have been made for Naxal affected areas. Hospitals with 90-bed capacity will be set up at three places including remote tribal area Jagargunda, district Sukma. Provisions have been made for upgradation of facilities in the medical colleges of Ambikapur, Kanker and Raipur. Similarly, in the field of education, besides opening Swami Atmanand Excellent Hindi Medium School, the status of more than 80 schools will be upgraded. Facilities will be upgraded in more than 100 schools.
Government Colleges to be established in Jagdalpur, Basin and Maakdi
Budget provision for establishment of Government Girls College in Mungeli
Chief Minister said that budget provisions have been made to provide better higher education facilities, which includes the provision for establishment of Government College in Jagdalpur- district Bastar, Basin- district Balod, Maakdi- district Kondagaon and Government Girls College in Mungeli. There is a budget provision for opening new faculties at undergraduate level in government colleges and new faculties at postgraduate level in 23 government colleges. Construction of new building for 18 government colleges and construction of additional rooms in 22 colleges and auditorium in government college Sitapur, district Sarguja has also been provisioned. Rs 2 crore 30 lakh have been provisioned for the establishment of girls and boys hostel and construction of building in Government College Pakhanjur.
