ECONOMY-MP budget announces cow welfare fund,hikes Haj committee grant

In its maiden budget for FY 2019-20, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh Wednesday stayed away from imposing new tax, allocated Rs 132 crore for setting up 1000 cow shelters, talked about developing "Ram Path" and raised honorarium for priests. The government proposed to rope in the corporate sector and the financially capable temples for bovine welfare, Finance Minister Tarun Bhanot told the Legislative Assembly even as he raised the grant for existing cow shelters to Rs 20 per cow from Rs 4.

Seeking to appease various sections of society, the Kamal Nath dispensation also hiked grants for the state Waqf Board and the Haj committee. The budget with the size of over Rs 2.33 lakh crore also focuses on the welfare of farmers. It increased the outlay for the sector by 66 per cent to Rs 22,736 crore from the previous fiscal's Rs 13,665 crore.

The Kamal Nath government came to power in December, 2018, after defeating the BJP in keenly-fought assembly elections. With a revenue surplus of Rs 732.63 crore, the budget proposes to increase allocation for the health sector by 32 per cent from Rs 11,434 crore in the last Financial Year to Rs 15,150 crore in the current fiscal.

The total revenue receipts for the year 2019-20 are estimated to be Rs 1,79,353 crores which include Rs 65,273 crore from state's own tax revenue, Rs 63,750 crore as Central taxes, Rs 13,968 crore as non-tax revenue and Rs 36,360 crore as Central grants. An allocation of Rs 8,000 crore has been made to waive the remaining loans of farmers in the state.

"The state government has written off loans worth Rs 7,000 crore of 20 lakh farmers within 128 days of coming to power," Bhanot said. The budget has made a provision of Rs 1600 crore towards wheat bonus at the rate of Rs 160 per quintal.

A scheme to impart training to farmers, "Krishi Bandhu Yojana", has also been proposed. While announcing allocation of Rs 132 crore for setting up 1000 cow shelters, the finance minister said the funds from other schemes would also be drawn in for this purpose.

The budget hiked the allocation for the education sector by 16 per cent to Rs 28,509 crore from Rs 24,481 crore. Bhanot also raised social security pension to Rs 600 per month from current Rs 300.

"A provision has been made to generate employment for youths under which the skill training programme would be given an impetus," Bhanot said. Seeking to strike a balance of caste and religion, the government has announced to increase grants to the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board and the Haj committee.

"A fund of Rs 821 crore has been earmarked for the OBC and Minorities Department," Bhanot said. While announcing a three-fold hike in the honorarium for the priests of registered temples, the minister said a "Pujari Kalyan Kosh" (priest welfare fund) would be set up besides a separate 'Nyas' (trust) for temples and rivers.

He also announced development of the Narmada river front near Jabalpur. Announcing that a law for the "right to water" is being prepared, the finance minister allocated Rs 1000 crore for conservation of water sources and drinking water quality.

An amount of Rs 4366 crore was allocated for rural water supply. The minister also announced the launch of "Nadi Punarjivan Karyakram" (river revival programme) for which 40 rivers have been identified.

In addition to Rs 4200 crore allocated for houses for urban poor, a fund of Rs 15,666 crore has been earmarked for Urban Development Department. Bhanot proposed to hire marketing agencies to promote the products associated with various places of state like sarees of Chanderi and Maheshwar, Bagh print clothes of Dhar, purses of Bhopal, Chironji Barfi (a sweet) of Sagar and 'Peda' of Bhind etc.

The minister also announced to organise "Magnificent Madhya Pradesh" event in October this year to attract industrial investments. Talking to reporters after persenting the budget, Bhanot said the government was considering to develop "Ram Path" on the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis.

"Ram Path" or "Ram Van Gaman Path" is the mythological route, a part of which falls in Madhya Pradesh, taken by Lord Ram on his way to 14-year exile. According to Finance department, the state has the debt outstanding at Rs 1.57 lakh crore as on March, 2018, which is estimated to go up to Rs 1.80 lakh crore (provisional) in March, 2019.

The department officers said 34.33 per cent of the total revenue has been spent on salaries of state employees, pension and interests on loans taken by the state government. Bhanot alleged the previous BJP government had misused the money taken as loan from various lenders, which he said resulted into the state slipping to 27th position among 29 states in the poverty index..