uttarakhand news

All about Uttarakhand Budget for 2016-17 session

Finance Minister Dr Indira Hridayesh presents final budget before Uttarakhand state elections

In its final budget before the assembly elections next year, the Congress government presented the Uttarakhand Budget for the 2016-17 session. The budget announced by Dr Indira Hridayesh, the finance minister of Uttarakhand primarily focused on agriculture, infrastructure and empowerment of women.

A one-time grant was provided in the budget for the joint metro line project connecting Muradnagar in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad district with Haridwar in Uttarakhand. The budget also proposed to create a provision to link over 5,000 remote and far-flung villages with other areas through more than 500 new motorable roads.

To promote cooperative farming in the hill state, the government announced introduction of Madhav Singh Bhandari Krishi Saybhagita Yojna, under which an expert group will be formed to develop agriculture in border areas. The government has also decided to set up minimum support price for traditional crops like mandua, ramdana, ugal and phaphar.

It isn’t a populist budget, says FM

Tabling the Rs 40,422 crore budget in the House on Friday, finance minister Indira Hridesh said while the estimated revenue receipts were projected at Rs 32,275.87 crore, capital receipts were estimated at Rs 7,636.13 crore.
The Rs 25.48 crore revenue surplus budget also had a special focus on working women in the state. It proposed to set up the first women’s industrial park on a 200 acre plot in Udham Singh Nagar district, apart from extending the benefit of maternity leave to thousands of women workers posted in different government departments.

The highest allocations have been made for school education at Rs 6,238 crore, followed by roads and bridges department at Rs 2,392.07 crore, rural development at?Rs 2319.36 crore and disaster management Rs 2,131.56 crore.

Besides, medical, health, family welfare, homoeopathic and ayush department has been allocated Rs 1,742.90 crore, internal security Rs 1,595.87 crore and Rs 1274.70 crore for irrigation and flood control.

Speaking with journalists after presenting the annual budget for 2016-17, finance minister Indira Hridayesh said that the budget provision for state-sponsored schemes like ‘Mera Gaon Meri Sadak Yojna’ will help connect most far-flung villages with other areas through 500 new roads across 10 districts.

Replying to a question on the proposals for new schemes to boost development in the state, she said these schemes will help create avenues for income generation in the hills. “We have estimated a target of about Rs 1,700 crore in revenues generated from schemes like cooperative farming and other horticulture related schemes and we will achieve the target by the end of the financial year. Currently we have been able to achieve the revenue target of Rs 1200 crore.”
Meanwhile, the minister denied that her party’s final budget before next year’s assembly elections was designed to woo voters. “The budget proposals aim at welfare of the people, especially those belonging to weaker sections. It’s not a populist budget,” she said.

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