The West Bengal budget presented on Monday is a mix of welfare and infrastructure promises.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the budget, which was for eight months and has an outlay of INR 4.38 lakh crore, takes care of everyone’s needs. Presenting the budget, Bengal finance minister Swapan Dasgupta said the new government had inherited a debt burden of INR 8.15 lakh crore from the previous Trinamul government.
“I do not think even the opposition has anything to complaint about the budget, if there are few issues we will get it settled in the next budget” said Adhikari.
“While the budgets during erstwhile Mamata Banerjee’s government were mostly self-reliant, this year’s budget seems to be largely dependent on central government. The finance minister was referring the central government so many time that we were getting confused whether it’s a state or central budget,” said Trinamul MLA Kunal Ghosh, who represents Mamata Banerjee fraction. Ghosh however pointed out that they are prepared to give more time to the new state government.
Indian National Congress state head Subhankar Sarkar claimed that the budget has little vision.
“While the budget could have shown emphasis on manufacturing sector and few other issues but we have to accept that the new finance minister has ticked most of the boxes. However, he hardly got 11 days and hence, I expect the new budget to be better,” pointed out Nilanjan Ghosh, economist and head of think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Kolkata.
Infrastructure in
Dasgupta announced a slew of infrastructure projects including the ones already announced by union government in its last budget.
§ An integrated deep sea port is to be set up at Dadanpatrabarh in Purba Medinipur.
§ The government allocated INR 900 crore for the Chingrighata-New Town elevated corridor and INR 1,200 crore for the new bridge over Bhagirathi river.
§ The state government will identify 1,000 acres in Kalyani for a greenfield airport to reduce passenger congestion at Kolkata airport.
§ Moreover, Purulia, Balurghat and Malda to get new airports under the Centre’s UDAAN scheme. Cooch Behar airport will be expanded.
§ The budget allocates INR 100 crore for Sundarban infrastructure, including on waterways.
§ A semiconductor unit is to come up in Durgapur and IT park to be developed in Siliguri.
§ Plans to set up IIT and IIM in north Bengal.
§ The state government has allocated INR 1,200 crore for the Ghatal Master Plan in Medinipur.
§ Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act to be reexamined to unlock investment potential in the state.
Jobs and DA focus
§ Dasgupta announced plans to fill up 1 lakh government job vacancies including 50,000 teachers’ posts and 20,000 posts in the police.
§ State government employees in due course will get Dearness Allowance (DA) at par with the central government employees, while the state government announced 20% additional DA to State government employees.
“The state government employees, semi-government employees, teachers and non-teaching staff play an important role in the government’s work and policy implementation. To recognise their contribution, I am happy to announce an additional 20 per cent dearness allowance on top of the current 18 per cent,” Dasgupta said.
§ Salaries of para-teachers in state-run schools are to be raised by INR 5,000 per month. Retired journalists will receive a monthly pension of INR 5,000 and individuals who had been jailed for particular political reasons will receive a monthly allowance of INR 10,000.
Social sector support
§ INR 36,000 crore has been allocated for the women’s financial assistance scheme Annapurna Yojana, which will be providing Rs 3,000 per month to women eligible under the scheme, said the finance minister. He added that out of the 1 lakh government vacancies to be filled up, 33% jobs will be reserved for women.
§ The allocations for the MLA local area development funds has been raised from annual Rs 70 lakh to Rs 1 crore to allow legislators with greater resources to undertake development works in their constituencies.
§ Girl students will be given a one-time incentive of INR 50,000 to prevent dropout.
§ The salary of ASHA workers’ scheme has been raised by INR 5,000 per month. The salary of mid-day meal cooks has been raised by INR 1,000.
§ Every sub-division in Bengal is to have a women’s police station; each police station is to have a women’s help desk.
§ Mid-day meal allocation for each student to be raised to Rs 10, ISKCON is to assist in food preparation and distribution.
Allocation signals
Women safety and issues had become a focal point in the BJP’s campaign leading up to the last assembly election; while the rural development and education were the other key issues.
The latest budget seems to have built upon that.
The department of women and child development and social welfare got the highest allocation in the budget: INR 52,308 crore. The panchayat and rural development received the second highest at INR 51,836 crore. The school education department received the third highest with an allocation of INR 44,948.21 crore.
Shops and tourism
Dasgupta announced that the state government will examine legal provisions to allow shops and restaurants to remain open for 24 hours.
A Tagore Cultural Centre will be established for the preservation of Rabindranath Tagore’s legacy, he said. He added that the state government will undertake a tourism initiative for Durga Puja and would plan a Shakti Peeth circuit.
The finance minister said liquor shops will not be allowed within a 1-km radius of hospitals, schools and religious institutions. This radius will be 500 metres in Kolkata.