Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, who also holds the finance profile, on Wednesday presented a Gender budget, a Youth budget and a Sustainable Development Goals budget, for the financial year 2022-23, with a fiscal deficit of Rs 1,849 crore. This is around 4.5 per cent of the GSDP.
The three segments – Gender, Youth and Sustainable – are a part of the main budget presented on Wednesday.
Sangma has estimated the total receipts at Rs 18,700 crore of which the revenue receipts are estimated at Rs 16,035 crore and capital receipts at Rs 2,665 crore. Excluding borrowings of Rs 2,632 crore, the total receipts are estimated to be Rs 16,068 crore.
On the expenditure side, the government has estimated the total expenditure at Rs 18,881 crore, of which the revenue expenditure is estimated at Rs 15,376 crore and capital expenditure at Rs 3,505 crore. Excluding repayment of loans of Rs 964 crore, the estimated total expenditure is Rs 17,917 crore.
Sangma said under state finances, for the current financial year, the state government has received Rs 5,851 crore as share of central taxes against the original estimates of Rs 5,105 crore.
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For 2022-23, the state’s share of central taxes is estimated at Rs 6,264 crore. The state will also be receiving Rs 1,033 crore as revenue deficit grant, Rs 76 crore as grants for disaster management, Rs 140 crore for the Autonomous District Councils, Rs 69 crore for Urban Local Bodies and Rs 59 crore as grants for the health sector. The total transfers from the Government of India excluding the scheme-related transfers are estimated at Rs 7,641 crore.
The own-tax revenue of the state for the current financial year, including GST compensation, is expected to touch Rs 2,213 crore. This includes an anticipated excise revenue of Rs 300 crore. For the year 2022-23, the government is estimating the overall tax revenues to be Rs 2,625 crore, out of which excise revenue is estimated at Rs 350 crore.
For 2022-23, the government is taking steps to auction a large proportion of the 32 lakh metric tons of the extracted coal. Sangma informed that the Ministry of Coal has already given approval for prospecting operations for 17 applicants.
“Given this, I am estimating the non-tax revenue from the mining sector to be Rs 500 crore and the overall non-tax revenue to be Rs 731 crore,” stated Sangma.
Under infrastructure, the chief minister had allocated for the new and ongoing projects an amount of Rs 1,770 crore for the year 2022-23 for the roads sector, out of which Rs 519 crore is for PMGSY, Rs 220 crore specifically for rural roads and the remaining for various state road projects.
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For mobility, Sangma said that helicopter services would be an efficient mode of travel, especially for tourists. In 2022-23, these services will be made operational on new routes to Williamnagar, Dawki and Sohra, and has allocated Rs 101 crore for the transport sector in 2022-23.
Under infrastructure for health and education, the government is allocating an amount of Rs 60 crore for the ‘Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project’. Rs 1,617 crore for the entire health sector, an increase of 28 per cent over the allocation in the current financial year.
The chief minister informed that the process for constructing 39 ‘Eklavya Model Residential Schools’ has started and 208 primary and secondary school buildings are being built at a cost of Rs 109 crore and shall be completed by December 2022. For 2022-23, another 111 schools will be constructed with an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore.
Infrastructure for Governance
The new assembly building being constructed at Mawdiangdiang at a cost of Rs 216 crore shall be ready in the coming months, mentioned the chief minister, adding that the next session will be held in the new assembly.
An amount of Rs 100 crore has been allocated for the completion of the project in 2022-23. Mini secretariat complexes will be built at Tura and Jowai with a cost of Rs 45 crore. An amount of Rs 150 crore shall also be spent for the creation of administrative infrastructure at all the district headquarters.
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Sangma said that Law and order is essential for development and economic growth and has earmarked Rs 100 crore for the upgradation of the police and law and order infrastructure for 2022-23.
The government will be taking up the second phase of the technology park in 2022-23. When completed it will create about 4,500 jobs over the next few years. Rs 120 crore for the IT sector in 2022-23 has been allocated, an increase of 31 per cent over the allocation in the current financial year.
Sangma stated that since tourism is another sector that has the potential to generate employment on a large scale, two major ecotourism projects are being implemented at a cost of Rs 1,450 crore. Under these projects, tourism infrastructure will be built at around 50 different locations over the next five years.
The government will also launch electric buses and e-buggies at major tourist attractions to enhance the ease of movement of tourists and promote low-impact tourism.
“I am doubling the allocation for the tourism sector to Rs 173 crore for 2022-23, compared to the current financial year,” said Sangma.
Sangma informed that the process of obtaining clearances for ‘Shillong Peak Ropeway’ are at an advanced stage and expect the construction to commence during 2022-23. The project will be implemented at a cost of Rs 116 crore.
To reduce traffic congestion in Shillong, the government will soon be introducing a pool school bus system with a fleet size of around 100 mini-buses. A fleet of electric buses for public transport in Shillong city will also be introduced. The chief minister is budgeting Rs 20 crore for improving mobility in Shillong.
Under maternal health, to implement ‘Chief Minister’s Safe Motherhood Scheme’, an amount of Rs 25 crore for 2022-23 has been allocated.
The chief minister said that this government has formed about 28,000 ‘Self Help Groups’ and mobilised women from about 3.2 lakh households. This is a five-fold jump since 2018. “We have disbursed about 211 crore to these SHGS and the ‘Village Organisations’ over the last four years. I am allocating an amount of Rs 115 crore for this program for 2022-23,” said Sangma.
Combining all the investments being proposed for women for 2022-23, the size of the gender budget comes to Rs 2,495 crore. This constitutes about 13 per cent of the total budget size and is 20 per cent higher than the allocations for the current financial year.
Youth, employment and entrepreneurship
Sangma said that Meghalaya is a young state with 8.5 lakh people in the 15-24 age group. Providing opportunities for these youth to find employment and to achieve excellence is the government’s priority.
The ‘Meghalaya Youth Policy’ has been approved in the current financial year. A programme for the engagement and training in soft skills of 10,000 youth has been launched and has allocated an amount of Rs 10 crore towards this programme.
A new all-comprehensive skilling programme called ‘Skills Meghalaya’ has been launched. One lakh youth will be trained in various skills for both wage and self employment in the local economy over the next five years. The chief minister has allocated Rs 10 crore for the ‘Skills Meghalaya’ programme.
He also informed that the ‘Meghalaya Games’ will be organised in May 2022, making it a biennial event. Further, as part of the golden jubilee celebrations, the state will also host the ‘North East Olympics’. Rs 208 crore has been allocated for Sports and Youth Affairs in 2022-23, an increase of 13 per cent over the allocation during the current financial year.
Rs 20 cr has been allocated for organizing events and promotion of music and other creative arts including the Cherry Blossom Festival, the Shillong Literary Festival, the Me.gong Festival, and a Meghalaya Film Festival will be organised.
“Aggregating all the investments being proposed for youth in 2022-23, the size of the youth budget comes to 1,363 crore. This constitutes about 7 per cent of the total budget size,” said Sangma.
The government is implementing the IFAD-funded “Meghalaya – Livelihood and Access to Markets Project’, the World Bank-funded ‘Community led Landscape Management Project’, and the JICA-funded ‘Community-based Forest Management and Livelihood Improvement in Meghalaya’. Rs 227 crore towards implementation of these projects in 2022-23 has been allocated.
Out of a total expenditure estimate of Rs 18,881 crore, Rs 9,182 crore will be spent on improvement of the various SDG indicators. This is an increase of about 19 per cent over the current financial year.
The chief minister concluded that his government is determined to propel Meghalaya into the league of top 10 states in India by the end of the decade. “A solid foundation for this has been laid over the last four years and this budget creates the pathways for achieving this ambitious mission,” said Sangma.
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