Thursday, March 28, 2024
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State stares at acute fund crunch

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SHILLONG: For the cashstrapped Meghalaya Government it is a double whammy. On one hand, there is a big slump in revenue collection and on the other, the Centre has deducted a quarter of its share of central taxes. Making no bones about it, while replying to the discussion on Budget in the Assembly on Thursday, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma informed that the state government had received an amount of Rs 352 crore out of the Rs 428 crore due to the state from the share of the central pool.

Informing that there is a reduction of Rs 76 crore, the chief minister told the House the award of the Finance Commission has gone up from 0.62 per cent to 0.76 per cent, which is the biggest jump the state has seen. According to Sangma, the government will be required to take measures to augment state’s resources for meeting the challenges in view of the prevailing emergency situation. Stating that the priorities of the government will be human development, primary sector and infrastructure development, he stressed on the need for proper utilisation of innovation and technology, which will play an important part to drive the state forward adding that data-driven governance will also be an important aspect.

On the initiative to help the farmers, he informed that the government has earmarked an amount of Rs 20 crore to create Farmer’s Owned and Operative Market, adding that it would also try to benefit from the Rs one lakh crore that the Centre has earmarked for the farmer’s gate infrastructure out of the Rs 20-lakh crore economic stimulus package announced recently.

 On the implementation of MGNREGA in the state, he said that the Community and Rural Development (C&RD) department was given a target of 350 lakh person days which it has exceeded by achieving 373 lakh person days. He said that the Ministry of Rural Development has increased the allocation to Rs 1330 crore from Rs 1211 crore after the successful implementation of the scheme in the state. “The allocation which the state has received on MGNREGA is more or less similar to Assam. But it is higher compared to states like Manipur and Nagaland”, the chief minister said. Sangma further informed that the allocation for MGNREGA has been increased from Rs 60,000 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore in the new stimulus package. “We will try to work out if the state can avail up to Rs 1800 crore from the incentives announced by the Centre.

 If the government manages to get this fund it would be a huge boost to the rural economy. This money will directly go to the poor families”, he observed. Meanwhile, the chief minister informed that the state government has already released Rs 1211 crore to all the districts during the three fiscal year. Sangma also said that the government has earmarked Rs 10 crore for construction of smart classrooms adding that this seems to be the best option to move forward in view of the prevailing situation. “We are also looking to submit proposals to the North Eastern Council for extension and construction of additional classrooms”, he said. Earlier, he informed that the government is planning to set up Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) in the 24 C&RD Blocks.

On the health sector, he said that Rs 50 crore has been sanctioned for the upgradation of Primary Health Centres and Community Health Centres while adding that the government has also made special provisions for upgradation of the block offices, including construction of new buildings of the 15 block offices. On the tourism sector, the chief minister said that the government is looking at creating a COVID-19 resilient tourism model in the state. He said that as high-end tourists would not travel abroad due to the fear of COVID-19, the government is keen on attracting at least 5-10 per cent of them to visit the state.

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