scorecardresearch
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomeIndiaIn Haryana budget, free heart drugs at bus stops, no tuition fee...

In Haryana budget, free heart drugs at bus stops, no tuition fee for poor college girls

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar presented his maiden budget as state finance minister, promising sops in agriculture and education.

Follow Us :
Text Size:

Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar Friday presented a Rs 1.42 lakh crore budget — marking an increase of 7.7 per cent from 2019-20 — that focused on education, health and agriculture.

Khattar, who holds the finance portfolio, said while India’s GDP is pegged at Rs 204 lakh crore, Haryana’s will be Rs 8.31 lakh crore. The state’s total debt is expected to touch Rs 1.98 lakh crore this fiscal year.

In what was both Khattar’s and the BJP-Jannayak Janata Party coalition government’s first budget presentation, the speech lasted a marathon two-and-a-half hours and included a smattering of shlokas from the Upanishads and quotes from Kautilya.

Speaking in Hindi, Khattar said he incorporated 70 per cent of the suggestions received from various stakeholders, including legislators, during his over-month-long pre-budget consultations.

“Despite having 1.34 per cent of geographical area and accounting for 2.09 per cent of the total population of the country, today our state contributes 4 per cent to the national GDP. Similarly, during the year 2019-20, India’s economic growth rate will be 5 per cent on current value whereas Haryana’s economic growth rate will be 7.75 per cent. It is a matter of pride that today this small state of ours is proving to be a major engine for growth of India’s economy,” said the CM.

Khattar added that his government will start the implementation of the majority of the promises made in the ‘Sankalp Patra’ (manifestos) of both the parties, many of which will be completed through this first budget.

Here is a look at the key highlights of the budget, which MLAs simultaneously read on electronic notebooks in the assembly:

Agriculture

The government allocated Rs 5,474.25 crore to agriculture.

At present, interest-free loan facility is available only on debt taken from cooperative institutions with a limit of Rs 1.5 lakh.

“Now I propose that this facility be available to those farmers who take a crop loan of Rs 60,000 up to a maximum 3 lakh per acre from any nationalised or cooperative bank,” Khattar said.

The CM also announced a special ‘agriculture dependent activities’ category for which power rates have been slashed to Rs 4.75 per unit from Rs 7.5 per unit.

Khattar also claimed his government gave the highest price for sugarcane at Rs 340 per quintal.

He added that, in the next three years, the state will expand organic and natural farming to ​​one lakh acres of land.


Also read: Budget 2020 pays little more than lip service to farmers and agri sector. Just like last year


Education

The state seeks to substantial increase the allocation for health and education, a move that seemingly mirrors Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s approach to development that has held his AAP government in good stead.

A total outlay of about Rs 20,000 crore for school education was announced, an increase of 28.6 per cent over the revised estimates for 2019-20. For higher education, Khattar announced about Rs 3,000 crore, an increase of over 41 per cent over last year’s revised estimates.

The state enhanced scholarships for students under the Mukhya Mantri Saksham Chatravriti Yojana, promising students securing more than 80 per cent marks in Class 5 a grant of Rs 6,000 from classes 6-8 as against Rs 1,500 earlier.

Khattar further said fees of students from families with an income below Rs 1.80 lakh will be waived in classes 9-12. This facility was earlier available only up to Class 8.

Free bicycles will be given to Scheduled Caste students of classes 9-11 in villages that don’t have secondary and senior secondary schools.

Board examinations will be launched for Class 8 from academic session 2020-21 with the objective of increasing the academic level and learning outcomes of students.

In higher education, the government has proposed to reserve 20 per cent of seats for Scheduled Caste students in all hostels of universities and colleges.

“At present, 4.71 lakh girls are getting higher education in various institutes of Haryana. No tuition fees are charged from girl students up to graduation. Now… up to postgraduate level, tuition fees will not be charged in any state college and university for girl students of poor families with annual income up to Rs 1.8 lakh,” he said.

“Our government is committed to provide a safe environment for students studying in colleges. For this, a provision has been made in the budget to install 2,000 cameras for surveillance in all colleges,” he added.

The government is also planning a new scheme to provide passports to all final-year university students for free.

Health

In the next fiscal year, Rs 6,500 crore will be spent on the health sector, an increase of 23 per cent over the revised estimates for 2019-20.

Families whose annual income is under Rs 1.8 lakh or who have less than 5 acres of land will be given benefits on a par with those guaranteed by the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana scheme. This means such families will be able to avail of a health insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh.

To ensure that sudden heart-related problems do not become fatal, sorbitrate tablets will be made available for free in public places such as railway stations, bus stands, cereal markets etc., as first aid.

Khattar further announced an upgrade in lab services across district hospitals.

“Cath Labs, services currently exist in only four districts. MRI is available in only four district hospitals and CT scan facility is currently available in 17 district hospitals. We have decided that these three facilities will be provided in all district hospitals. In the year 2020-21, the services of dialysis, which are currently available in 18 district hospitals, will now be provided in sub-divisional hospitals in addition to all the district hospitals. In addition, the facility of ultrasound will be extended to every community health centre. Ventilator facility for adults and children will be provided in all district hospitals,” he said.

The CM also said chemotherapy will be made available in all district hospitals this fiscal year.

The state is also planning on setting up three new medical colleges in Yamunanagar, Kaithal and Sirsa.

Other sectors

To provide affordable housing, a new department, ‘Housing for All’, will be created to cover all the existing schemes of housing and one lakh houses will be provided by 2022, Khattar said.

The budget allocated Rs 6,294 crore to rural development and panchayats, Rs 349 crore to industries, Rs 9,000 crore to pensions and Rs 19,343 crore to education and sports.

Khattar said, in this budget, the government had merged 132 schemes into 46 and abolished 18 schemes.

He also said information on potholes was being uploaded by government officials and the general public on ‘Harpath App’.

There is a provision for a daily fine of Rs 1,000 per pothole on contractors for not repairing damaged roads within the time limit. Khattar said the government is looking to start a new scheme from 1 April, whereby if a complaint is not resolved within 96 hours, complainants will get a cash incentive.

To bring the water of the Ravi-Beas rivers to Haryana and for construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, an amount of Rs 100 crore will be spent during the upcoming fiscal year.

A new scheme called Atal Bhujal Yojana is being launched in 36 water-scarce blocks for water conservation in Haryana.

For Kashmiri migrants, the monthly financial help has been increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,250 per person.

Among other initiatives, 5,000 EWS students of Haryana schools will be provided free coaching while old-age homes will be set up in all districts.

(With PTI inputs)


Also Read: This is how Khattar helped BJP sweep Haryana’s 10 seats


 

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular