SHILLONG: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, who is also in-charge finance, tabled a tax-free deficit budget of Rs 1,150 crore for the financial year 2018-19 on Friday.
The Budget of the MDA government, which is barely three weeks old, was on expected lines without any frills or surprises. With no new programmes and policies, it reflected most of the initiatives of the previous government.
Along with the Budget, the chief minister also presented over Rs 3,569 crore vote on account for three months starting from April and subsequently the House passed it.
Presenting the maiden budget of the new government, Sangma said the priority of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance is education, health, rural road connectivity, agriculture, particularly food processing and tourism, among others.
This is for the second time that Sangma is presenting the budget. In 2008, he had presented his maiden budget as the finance minister in the Meghalaya Progressive Alliance government.
The deficit of Rs 1,150 crore for 2018-19, which is around 3.32 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), is less than last year’s Budget that had a fiscal deficit of Rs 1,236 crore (around 3.8 per cent of GSDP).
For 2018-19, Sangma estimated the total receipts at Rs 14,104 crore, of which the revenue receipts are estimated at Rs 12,531 crore and capital receipts at Rs 1,573 crore. Excluding borrowings, the total receipts are estimated to be Rs 12,554 crore.
He estimated the total expenditure at Rs 14,101 crore of which revenue expenditure is estimated at Rs 12,036 crore and capital expenditure at Rs 2,065 crore. Excluding repayment of loans, the estimated total expenditure is Rs 13,704 crore.
The interest payment during 2018-19 is estimated at Rs 653 crore and pension payment at Rs 784 crore.
The chief minister admitted that there is burden on the state exchequer on account of release of the Fifth Pay Commission award.
Another factor that drained the state’s coffers is loss of revenue due to the ban on coal mining.
Despite this, the new government did not impose any fresh tax as the government has to study the ground situation.
Sangma said the recent relaxation of the recommendations of the Committee on Road Safety on the sale of liquor has slightly improved the state’s own revenue collection in 2017-18. “However, the spillover impact of the NGT ban on coal mining on the economy of the state is still restricting the state from realising its full revenue potential,” Sangma said.
However, he was hopeful that despite the limitations in the collection of the state’s revenue (both tax and non-tax), Meghalaya’s total receipts for 2018-19 will improve over 2017-18 on account of the comparatively higher share of central taxes, earmarked at Rs 5,059.77 crore for 2018-19.
According to Sangma, the state’s total expenditure from its own resources is anticipated to increase substantially.
“This is due to the commitment of the state government to support the improvement of judicial infrastructure in the state from its own resources as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission and the creation of a substantial number of posts to improve the state’s delivery system, and most importantly, the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission for government employees,” he said.
The chief minister pointed out that on account of the poor fiscal scenario and to ensure that the state is able to meet its committed and unavoidable expenditures, the government is committed to strictly implementing and reinforcing fiscal austerity measures to avoid wasteful expenditure.
The government is also taking measures to strengthen the enforcement machinery to realise higher revenue under GST, grant mining leases for minor minerals under the Meghalaya Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2016, to generate more revenue from royalty on minor minerals.
Sangma said in the recent years, there has been reduction in funds being available for developmental schemes and projects. This is mainly due to the discontinuation of Block Grants such as Special Plan Assistance (SPA), Special Central Assistance (SCA) and other Centrally Sponsored Schemes, including Central Sector Schemes.
The state government will ensure that all available financial assistance that can be leveraged from the centrally-sponsored schemes, central sector schemes, grants under Article 275 (1), externally aided projects, and the assistance available from NEC and Ministry of DoNER are fully tapped, he added.
Highest allocation for C&RD
The allocation for various sectors includes Community and Rural Development (Rs 1457.94 crore), Education (Rs 969.64 crore), Law and Order (Rs 57.80 crore), Judiciary (Rs 55 crore), District Councils (Rs 13.30 crore), Power (Rs 446. 62 crore), Roads and Bridges (Rs 628.04 crore), Transport ( Rs 19.22 crore), Sports and Youth Affairs (Rs 65.76 crore), Heath and Family Welfare ( Rs 613.31 crore) Arts and Culture (Rs 34.31 crore), Social Welfare (Rs 537.72 crore), Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (Rs 34. 27 crore), Water Supply and Sanitation (Rs 293. 26 crore), Agriculture and Horticulture ( Rs 252.26 crore), Fisheries (Rs 58.39 crore), Animal Husbandry and Veterinary (Rs 59.84 crore) Water Resources (Rs 190.41 crore), Soil and Water Conservation (Rs 83.07 crore), Sericulture and Weaving ( Rs 36.20 crore), Forest and Environment (Rs 124.92 crore), Cooperation (Rs 18.24 crore), Border Areas Development ( Rs 47.30 crore), Commerce and Industries (Rs 25.19 crore), Mining and Geology (Rs 3.67 crore), Urban Development (Rs 204.12 crore), Housing ( Rs 10 crore), Labour (Rs 66.16 crore), Information Technology (Rs 19.67 crore), Tourism ( Rs 93.29 crore), Personnel (Rs 2.50 crore), and Information and Public Relations (Rs 10.74 crore).
