GUWAHATI: Following Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal’s footsteps, Assam finance minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, might have announced free electricity for some and free rides for some others, but the budget presented by him on 6th March has a net deficit of Rs 1249.50 crores.
Going with the finance minister’s budget speech, there is a current surplus of Rs 1,934.10 crores but there is an opening deficit of Rs 3,183.60 crores which, if calculated, shows that there is a net deficit of Rs 1,249.50 crores.
The aggregate expenditure for the 2020-21 is estimated at Rs 2,80,360.29 crores. The budget estimates of 2020-21 showed a receipt of Rs 1,05,245.23 crores under the consolidated fund of the state. Out of this, Rs 91,930.80 crores is on revenue account and the remaining Rs 13,315.43 crores is under capital account.
Talking about budget expenditure, the Assam government claimed that there was 67% expenditure in the financial year 2018-19; the same was 56% in 2015-16. The expenditure percentage is claimed to have further increased this financial year. Assam finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma presented this last full-fledged budget of the present government at 2 pm on Friday. The budget is being claimed to be a boon for 30 lakh to 40 lakh families and it includes schemes that are expected to take the state towards progress and development.
In the last financial year 2019-20, the growth rate was at around 13 per cent in the state. The finance minister had also stated that around Rs 73,000 crores was spent in the last financial year.
Interestingly, this annual budget was also published online hours before its cabinet approval and tabling in the state assembly which led to noisy protests against the incident in the assembly, with the main opposition Congress staging a walkout over it. Local TV channels flashed the news since the afternoon that the budget had been already uploaded though it was scheduled to be presented at 2 pm on March 6. The document was soon taken off the website and uploaded in the evening again.
State Congress leader Pradyut Bordoloi, talking to G Plus said, “Himanta Biswa Sarma’s budget is a big hoax.” He questioned that when nothing on tax revenue was mentioned how can there be a current surplus of Rs 1934.10 crores. It is a deficit budget.
He also said that it is Himanta’s fourth budget and since his first budget he has only claimed that every budget was a dream budget. But till now, as Bordoloi sees it, only 30% of the work has been done since the first budget.
“He is just trying to blatantly trying to woo some sections of the people keeping the 2021 polls in mind,” said Bordoloi.