By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
DEHRADUN, 5 Dec: The first supplementary budget for the current fiscal year to the tune of Rs 2533.90 crore was presented by the government on the second day of the winter session of the state assembly, here, today. Of this, an amount of Rs 1606.33 crores has been provisioned under the revenue head, while an amount of Rs 927.5 crore has been provided under the capital head. Of the entire budget, an amount of Rs 166.65 crore is provided for salaries of the government employees and an additional amount of Rs 37.18 crore will be incurred on pensions. Among the new provisions made through the supplementary grants, an amount of Rs 10 crore has been allocated for assistance to the Uttarakhand Shrine Board, the constitution of which is being strongly opposed by the Opposition as well as the Teerth Purohits from across the state. Interestingly, a provision of Rs 50 crore has been made for the Jamrani Multipurpose Dam Project which is aimed at fulfilling drinking water needs of people in and around Nainital district. This generates hopes for this project which has been held up for more than forty years. A generous amount of Rs 150 crore has been provided for construction of roads in the state, while an additional amount of Rs 50 crore has been provided for maintenance of roads in the state. Similarly, an amount of Rs 100 crore has been provided for development works for the Kumbh/ Ardhkumbha Mela at Haridwar. Of the entire budget, a significant amount of Rs 848.11 crore is provisioned for centrally aided schemes of various departments. Under the centrally aided schemes, an amount of Rs 75 crore has been provided for construction of houses under Pradhanmantri Awas Yojana (Rural), while an amount of Rs 25 crore has been provided for the Smart City project in Dehradun. An amount of Rs 26 crore has been provided for skill development in rural areas under the Deendayal Upadhyaya Rural Skills Scheme. An amount of Rs 30 crore has been provided for the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Scheme, while an amount of Rs 10 crore has been provided under the Pradhanmantri Gramin Sadak Yojana. Another new provision is Rs 5 crore for conducting various tribal welfare schemes by the Tribal Research Institute & Museum established at Doon University Campus. An amount of Rs 13 crore has been provided for expansion of the airstrip at Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun to enable improvement of air services. Another interesting provision is allocation of Rs 4 crore for Ease of Doing Business. In order to boost irrigation facilities, an amount of Rs 50 crore has been provided under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme, a part of the PMKSY scheme. Similarly, an amount of Rs 3 crore has been provided for maintenance of canals in Dehradun and an amount of Rs 5 crore for making ground water available to every farm covered under PMKSY. A meagre amount of Rs 5 crore has been provided as assistance to GMVN and KMVN, both of which corporations are running in loss. Rs 20 crore have been provided for border area development.
