Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, who is also Minister in-charge of Finance, on March 4 presented Rs 731.40 crore deficit Budget for the fiscal year 2020-21 in the state assembly.
Presenting the Budget Estimates for the financial year, the deputy chief minister said the revenue receipt of Rs 20594.59 crore and capital receipt of Rs 1385.71 crore has been projected, making the total receipts of Rs 21980.30 crore as against total receipt of Rs 18726.24 crore in revised estimates of 2019-20.
He also informed that the state share of central taxes has been pegged at a level of Rs 13801.59 crore as per the Union Budget 2020-21 and the projected state’s own tax revenue is projected as Rs 1316 crore.
The non-tax revenue projection for 2020-21 has been pegged at Rs 600 crore during 2020-21, Mein stated. “This Budget continues to carry the people-centric philosophy adopted by our government. We aim to efficiently use our resources so that the performance of our state improves in achieving the targets set under each of the Sustainable Development Goals,” the deputy chief minister said.
The Budget presented by Mein emphasised on various sectors including agriculture, education and health.
For farmers, the Budget proposes to give a top up of Rs 3,000 per year in terms of farm inputs to each farmer family which registers on PM KISAN Portal, in addition to the annual income support of Rs 6,000 being given to them by the Centre under PM Kisan Yojana. Mein proposed allocation of Rs 18 crore with an aim to cover 60,000 farmer families in the state.
On health sector, the Budget proposed to allocate Rs 24 crore for upgradation of five zonal hospitals at Aalo, Tezu, Khonsa, Bomdila and Ziro.
In sports sector, the Budget proposed to allocate Rs 3 crore in the coming year for hiring sports coaches in 100 senior secondary schools to train sports talent with the aim of winning Olympic gold medals.
Stating that the government is committed for providing quality education through various interventions, Mein proposed allocation of Rs 30 crore for education department, which will take up one higher secondary school in each district whose infrastructure will be upgraded based upon local needs.
The Budget also proposes to continue with the Chief Minister’s Samast Shiksha Yojana with an allocation of Rs 40 crore during the coming financial year.
He also proposed to allocate Rs 5 crore for construction of 1 NCC academy in the state in the coming year.
To encourage the students prepare for various central competitive examinations, one-time financial help amounting up to Rs 2 lakh has been extended to APST candidates. For this purpose, Mein proposed to earmark Rs 1 crore for UPSC coaching for APST candidates in the coming year.
To ensure that all 128 small, mini, micro hydropower projects are able to feed the power to the grid, the deputy chief minister proposed to allocate Rs 20 crore for construction of evacuation lines for such projects.
For police modernization, the minister informed that the amount allocated last year under the said scheme could not be spent entirely. He proposed to re-allocate Rs 15 crore to the Police department for modernization of the police force in the coming year.
Citing that the drug menace in the state has had a deleterious impact on the youth and is continuing unabated throughout the state, he proposed to allocate Rs 2.5 crore to set up an Anti-Narcotics Task Force in the Police Department for effective enforcement against spread and abuse of drugs.
Stating that the government is committed to provide external infrastructure to construct the state-of-the-art Greenfield airport at Hollongi (Itanagar) so that it can be launched within 3 years, Mein said, the Budget proposes to allocate Rs 50 crore for construction of a 4-lane approach road to the airport along with bulk power and water supply facilities.
