The Budget proposal, the last by the incumbent BJP-led
state government in Tripura
before the state goes to polls, included a series
of new projects and schemes Tripura
Deputy
Chief Minister Jishnu Devvarma, who is also in charge of the Finance
portfolio,
Wednesday presented a Rs 26,892.67-crore tax-free Budget proposal for the
2022-23 financial year. The Budget is 18.34 per cent higher than last year’s
Budget estimates and an increase of over Rs 4,000
crore. The Budget proposal, the last
by the incumbent BJP-led state government in Tripura before the state goes to
polls,
included a series of new projects and schemes, many of which are among
the poll
promises made by the BJP prior to the 2018 Assembly election,
including providing
social security pension of Rs 2,000, converting the
Pushpavant Palace — the erstwhile
Raj Bhawan — into a digital museum, and
others.
Laying the Budget
proposal, Devvarma said, “The Covid pandemic created adverse
effects on the
economy. During the constraints, the state government took diverse and
timely
steps and succeeded to slow down the pandemic. We also had approximately
12.16
per cent growth of the gross state domestic product…We expect a 13.28 per cent
GSDP growth in the next financial year.” Devvarma claimed that the
erstwhile Left
regime left Tripura under huge debts and the growth in the
budgetary allocation was
possible through good fiscal management.
The Budget
estimates tabled Wednesday doubled the capital expenditure to Rs 5,285
crore
and displayed a deficit of Rs 569.52 crore. While the Budget
estimates didn’t
include details of the open market borrowing and other loans
but Devvarma said his
government has maintained fiscal management and has
adhered to the guidelines of
the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act,
2003.
Tripura’s Budget
has laid a heavy thrust on education, health, social security,
industrial
promotion among other things this year. A separate gender Budget was also
published this year with a provision of Rs 2,838.54 crore out of the total Rs
8,084.02
crore development outlay, marking a 35 per cent provision for gender
Budget.
Highlighting the
key sectors in his Budget estimates, the Deputy Chief Minister said it
includes
a Rs 500-crore allocation for the Mission Vidyajyoti Schools, Rs 50 crore for a
national law university, Rs. 6.5 crore for a new scheme called ‘Khelo Tripura,
Sustho
Tripura’, Rs 5,010 crore for the education sector, which is 20.66 per
cent higher than
the previous year’s budgetary provisions.
The Budget also
proposed Rs 1,777 crore for the health sector, marking a 23 per cent
growth
from the last Budget’s health sector allocation. This includes proposals for
setting up a psychiatric hospital and a psychiatric consultation centre, a drug
rehabilitation centre at Khumulwng, headquarters of the Tripura ADC among other
things.
The Budget estimates also
include a Rs 645-crore allocation for raising the social
security pensions to
Rs 2,000 for the 3.81 lakh social security pension beneficiaries, Rs
1,300
crore for the ST development, including connectivity, Rs 40 crore for turning
Pushpavant Palace into a digital museum. The palace is named after Maharaja
Birendra Kishore Manikya, one of the last reigning kings of Tripura.
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