Assembly Session
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 6 Sep: Finance Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal presented the first Supplementary Budget to the tune of Rs 11,321 crores for the current Financial Year, 2023-24, in the House today. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was also present in the House when the Supplementary Budget was presented.
It may be recalled that the government had presented the annual budget of Rs 77, 407 crores for the Financial Year, 2023-24, during the Budget Session held in Gairsain in the month of March. Since then, the first demands of grants have been made for the current financial year.
Speaking on the occasion, Aggarwal pointed out that the supplementary budget has been presented in accordance with Article-205 of the Constitution of India, which provides for the supplementary budget in case of additional requirements of expenditure in excess of the budget passed for the year. He said that it is necessary to present a supplementary demand before the Legislature.
He stated that, both, real and token demands have been included in the demands for the first supplementary grant for the financial year 2023-2024. Of the total supplementary budget provision of Rs 11,321 crores, an amount of Rs 3530 crores has been provided under Revenue expenditure head, while an amount of Rs 7790 crores has been provided under Capital Expenditure head.
A significant portion of budget provisions is sourced from Central funds under various schemes. For example, an amount of Rs 3,000 crores has been sought under Centrally Sponsored Schemes, while an amount of Rs 286 crores has been provided to be sourced from NABARD. In addition, an amount of Rs 331 crores has been sourced under Externally Aided Projects (EAP), while the state sponsored schemes entail a provision of Rs 3,200 crores. Rs 157 crore have been proposed under Urban Development for Municipal bodies.
Major projects proposed under the Capital Expenditure include construction of a ring road around Tehri Lake (Rs 156 crores), for augmentation of urban amenities and infrastructure, Rs 321 crores, for construction of parking facilities, an amount of Rs 135 crores has been proposed. Rs 100 crores have been proposed for Haridwar Medical College, Rs 30 crores have been proposed for redevelopment of Rishikesh as a Yoga Nagari and an amount of Rs 25 crores has been proposed for redevelopment of Haridwar as a tourist city. An amount of Rs 10 crores has been proposed for construction of Bus Stations.
Among the major revenue expenditure proposed, some major provisions include an amount of Rs 300 crores for repair and maintenance of roads in the state, Rs 297 crores for National Rural Health Mission, Rs 284 crores for food subsidies, Rs 218 crores for SDRF under Disaster Management, Rs 200 crores under Atal Ayushman Health Scheme, Rs 190 crores for Rural Housing, an additional amount of Rs 100 crores for Joshimath disaster management. This is in addition to the amount of Rs 1,000 crores that had been provisioned under the main budget for Joshimath. In addition, an amount of Rs 8.5 crores has also been proposed for announcements made by the CM.
