Chhattisgarh agri budget goes up by only 3.3 per cent in 2022-23, rural development budget same as that last year

On Wednesday, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel presented the Budget for 2022-23 in the state Assembly. The agriculture budget has gone up by only 3.3 per cent. The budget for panchayat and rural development remains the same as that last year.

A provision of Rs 6,000 crore has been made under Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana. An assistance of Rs 10,000 per acre is given under this scheme. More than Rs 10,152 crore has been granted to more than 20 lakh farmers over the last two years. The state government has made a provision of Rs 575 crore for Fasal Bima Yojana and Rs 323 crore for the National Food Security Mission. A provision of Rs 123 crore has been made under the Krishak Samagra Vikas Yojana to make high-quality seeds available to the farmers.

The Chief Minister has proposed to restore the old pension scheme for the state government employees. The government has decided to waive the fee for Chhattisgarh domicile applicants in all professional examinations conducted by the state’s professional examination board and the public service commission. There is no proposal of any new tax in the Budget.

A total expenditure of Rs 1,04,000 crore has been estimated in 2022-23. The Budget has proposed 37 per cent of the amount for the social sector, 40 per cent for the economic sector and 23 per cent for the services sector. The fiscal deficit has been estimated at 3.3 per cent of the GDP.

As against Rs 8,974 crore in the Revised Estimates (RE) for 2021-22, the Budget has made a provision of Rs 9,272 crore for the agriculture sector in 2022-23. That is, there has been an increase of only 3.3 per cent. The provision of Rs 8,830 crore for panchayat and rural development in this Budget is nearly the same as the Rs 8,828 crore in RE 2021-22. Of this, Rs 1,702 crore is for MNREGA.

The Budget has made a provision of Rs 18,198 crore for health, Rs 2,289 crore for women and child development and Rs 3,848 crore for urban development.

As per the Budget announcement, an Integrated Pack House will be established in the Durg district in order to increase agriculture storage capacity. A provision of Rs 24 crore has been made for this. With help from NABARD, a provision of Rs 690 crore has been made for irrigation projects, Rs 931 crore for minor irrigation projects, Rs 260 crore for stop dam and anicut and Rs 125 crore for embankment construction.

Several steps have been taken in the Budget for the development of rural areas. A total of 8,22,832 houses have been built so far under the Pradhanmantri Gramin Awas Yojana. A provision of Rs 800 crore has been made for this scheme in the next financial year. Rs 500 crore has been allocated for Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin and Rs 1,675 crore for Pradhanmantri Gramin Sadak Yojana. There is a provision of Rs 1,114 crore under the head of grants to Panchayat on the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission.

The annual assistance for landless farmers under the Rajiv Gandhi Bhumihin Krishi Mazdoor Nyay Yojana has been increased from Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 per annum from next year. The gaushalas of the state will be developed as Mahatma Gandhi Rural Industrial Parks. The Budget has made a provision of Rs 600 crore to provide better infrastructure and facilities like power and water to these industrial parks.

The amounts received by people’s representatives have also been increased in this Budget.  The MLA fund has been increased from Rs 2 crore to Rs 4 crore. A provision of Rs 364 crore has been made on this account. The allocation for the Panchayat Vikas Nidhi Yojana has also been increased. While the honorarium for the zila panchayat president has been increased from Rs 15,000 per month earlier to Rs 25,000 now, the allowance for the vice-president and zila panchayat member has been raised to Rs 15,000 (up from Rs 10,000) and Rs 10,000 (up from Rs 6,000) respectively.

Chhattisgarh’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is estimated to grow by 11.54 per cent and the per capita income by 11.93 per cent in the financial year 2021-22, according to the economic survey the state government presented in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, a day before the budget. The state’s per capita income will increase to Rs 1,18,401 from Rs 1,05,778 in the previous financial year, the report said.

The GSDP at constant prices will go up to Rs 2.78 lakh crore in the current financial year from 2.49 lakh crore in the last financial year. A growth of 3.88 per cent is estimated in the agricultural sector, 15.44 per cent in the industrial sector and 8.54 per cent in the services sector.