State Budget: Fiscal Odyssey of Cows and Coinage

 

 

 

 

 

The new government unfurls its parchment, the budget, for the financial year 2024-25. Jagdish Devda, the Deputy Chief Minister and custodian of the State’s coffers, steps into the spotlight. His canvas; a roadmap for development, etched with ink made from cowshed conversations and echoes of religious congregations, the Simhastha and establishment of a Vedanta Peeth- with an outlay of Rs 341 crore. Picture this; the humble cowshed, where bovine souls chew on fodder. The ledger, once marked at Rs 20 per day for fodder, now bears the weight of Rs 40, an increased outlay to sustain these gentle creatures and the finance minister has made provisions of Rs 250 crore for the purpose. But beyond the cowsheds, a grand spectacle awaits when Simhastha, the celestial carnival known as Kumbh Mela, will grace Ujjain in 2028. The Finance Minister has earmarked a handsome Rs 500 crore, well in advance, for the Hindu pilgrims who drawn to cosmic magnets; will converge, seeking salvation in the confluence of rivers and faith.

 

Soon after completion of the rituals of budget presentation on Wednesday, Finance Minister Devda, clad in the mantle of finance, steps onto the another dais where his subordinates made a PowerPoint presentation, revealing an 18% growth projection in state’s own tax revenue, a symphony of numbers. But questions linger. The PowerPoint canvas reveals growth; 17% (approx.) from Rs 281,660 crore (FY 2023-24) to Rs 330193 crore (FY 2024-25). But peek behind the curtain, revised estimates of Rs 300915 whisper of a more modest 10% (approx). Expenditure, too, dances a dual step. Revised estimate figures of FY 2023-24 stood at Rs 299,683.30 crore, against the budgetary estimate of Rs 281,553.62 crore, which is estimated to reach 326382 crore in 2024-25. A tale of percentages, 16% versus 9%. Why does the growth rate waltz differently between budgetary estimates and revised figures? The platoon of officials, perhaps evading the spotlight, promises data supply to the curious at later stage.

 

The Finance Minister, meanwhile, steered the press conference and pinpointed five prongs of progress promised in his budget; a) revenue ascension, ie., scaling the peaks of income b) augmenting capital investment c) luring investors d) doubling of the budget, five years to conjure abundance and e) infrastructure augmentation: Roads, irrigation, and power, the sinews of progress. The budget unfurls before the Central government’s grand tableau likely to be tabled sometime at the fag end of this month. Corrections in the state budget accordingly, if needed, must tiptoe through the narrow gate of supplementary budgets. Amid the din of slogans raised by opposition members, Devda’s voice persists. Three new medical universities likely to sprout in Neemuch, Mandsaur, Seoni. Eight more await their turn. The also has some good news when job market is tight. The State Finance Minister has announced to recruit 7,500 police and 11,000 teachers with more details are yet to be known. In a nutshell, the Finance Minister earmarked an outlay of Rs 26,560 crore for women and child development department, yet he was silent on raising monthly grant of Rs 1,250 under his party’s (BJP) flagship scheme Ladli Bahna Yojana, to be raised further to Rs 3,000 per month for eligible women.

 

The health schemes get Rs 21,444 crore, 18984 crore for Ladli Bahna Yojana, Gaushalas (cow shelters) has been allocated Rs 250 crore for animal feed, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to get Rs 4,000 crore,, Swachh Bharat Mission get Rs 392 crore, roads strengthening; Rs 900 crore, teerth darshan yojana (for elderly) gets Rs 50 crore. Devda, undeterred by the cacophony in the House, allocated a whopping Rs 66,605 for agriculture and allied activities, Rs 13596 crore for irrigation, Rs 21,444 crore for health, Rs 52682 crore for education, Rs 27,870 crore for rural development and Rs 16,744 crore for urban development. The budget speech, masked in the tumult, echoed like a distant hymn. The state’s destiny, inked in numbers, awaits its unfolding.