Vote for poll promises

Hyderabad: According top priority to welfare and farming sector and with an objective to fulfil all promises made by TRS during 2018 Assembly elections, including implementation of the unemployment allowance, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Friday presented revenue surplus vote-on- account budget for 2019-20 with an outlay of Rs 1,82,017 crore in the Assembly on the first day of the budget session.

In view of the ensuing Lok Sabha elections in April this year, the chief minister projected a welfare-centric budget by substantial increase of the allocations to all welfare departments. KCR also announced that unemployment allowance scheme would be implemented from the new financial year. He earmarked Rs 1,810 crore for the specific scheme in the budget proposals.

The government allocated Rs 12,000 crore for Aasara pensions, Rs 16,500 crore for SC development, Rs 9,800 crore for ST development and Rs 2,004 crore was provided to minorities welfare. The highest-ever Rs 20,000 crore was earmarked to for the agriculture sector. As promised in the TRS election manifesto, the Chief Minister announced the hike of Aasara pensions extended to old-aged, differently abled, single women and widows; the increase of cash incentive from Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per acre under the Rythu Bandhu scheme and earmarked required funds for the implementation of these schemes.

The government has proposed Rs 6,000 crore for the implementation of farm loan waiver. After welfare, irrigation has been accorded top priority with an allocation of Rs 22,500 crore.Of the total outlay, the Pragati Paddu (Plan expenditure) is proposed at Rs 1,07,302 crore and the Nirvana Paddu (non – plan) will be Rs 74,715 crore. The estimated revenue surplus Rs 6,564 crore and the fiscal deficit will be Rs 27,749 crore at 2.81 per cent of the GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product).

Chief Minister said the state own revenues in the new financial year has been projected at Rs 94,776 crore in comparison with revised estimates of 2018-19 at Rs 72,777 crore. The central assistance will be Rs 22,835 crore.“After formation of Telangana, the state’s growth rate is more than double to 10.6 per cent in the 2018-19. In 2012-13, it was only 4.2 per cent. This is indisputable proof that our government has done lot more in a very short period of less than five years in putting the economy on a higher growth trajectory,” he said. The state GSDP during 2018-19 is estimated at Rs 8,66,875 crore.

The primary sector of the GSDP is expected to register a growth rate of 10.9 per cent and the secondary sector will register 14.9 per cent growth rate. Rejuvenation of irrigation facilities, investment support to farmers, assured power supply, TS-iPASS industrial policy and improvement in ease of doing business and availability of skilled manpower were the main reasons for the constant growth in primary and secondary sectors.

The chief minister also presented revised estimates for 2018-19 with Rs 1.61 lakh crore as against the budget proposal of Rs 1.74 lakh crore. The total expenditure in 2017-18 financial year was Rs 1,43,133 crore. The revenue receipts are Rs 88,365 crore and the revenue expenditure is Rs 85,365 crore registering a revenue surplus of Rs 3,459 crore.