Chief minister presents budget 2024-25 in the house

Imphal: On the first day of the 6^th Session of 12^th Manipur Legislative Assembly, Leader of the House and Chief Minister (in-charge of Finance), Nongthombam Biren Singh presented Annual State Budget Estimates 2024-25 in the House.

N. Biren Singh, Chief Minister (in-charge of Finance), laid i) Demands for Grants, 2024-2025, ii) Annual Financial Statement, 2024-25, iii) Manipur Budget at a Glance, 2024-25 and iv) Demands for Excess Grants for the year 2018-19 on the Table of the House. He also presented the Seventh Report of the Business Advisory Committee , 2024 and also moved ‘ that the House agrees with the allocation of time proposed by the committee ‘. N. Biren Singh, Chief Minister (in-charge of Finance ) moved the Motion for Vote on Account, 2024 in the House for discussion.

Th. Basanta Kumar Singh, Minister (in-charge of law) also laid i) Separate Audit Report (SAR) for Manipur State Legal Services Authority for the year 2018-19, ii) Separate Audit Report (SAR) for Manipur State Legal Services Authority for the year 2019-20, iii) Separate Audit Report (SAR) for Manipur State Legal Services Authority for the year 2020-21 and iv) Separate Audit Report (SAR) for Manipur State Legal Services Authority for the year 2021-22 on the Table of the House.

The Secretary , Manipur Legislative Assembly intimidated the House on the Governor’s assent to the Bill.

The new budget, presented today, reflects the State’s total receipts for 2024-25 with an estimate of Rs. 34,815 Crores, with revenue receipts of Rs. 27,716 Crores and capital receipts of Rs. 7,099 Crores. The State’s own tax and non-tax receipts are estimated at Rs. 2,470 Crores and Rs. 300 Crores, respectively. The proposed total gross expenditure from the Consolidated Fund is Rs. 34,899 Crores, with revenue expenditure at Rs. 20,628 Crores and a capital outlay of Rs. 8,616 Crores. The fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs. (-) 1,526 Crores, which is 3% of the GSDP. The total outstanding debt as a percentage of GSDP is projected at 35%. The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for 2024-25 is estimated at Rs. 49,937 Crores.

Presenting the budget, the Chief Minister emphasized the significance of agriculture to the State’s economy, acknowledging the challenges faced by farmers due to recent unrest and natural disasters. He assured that compensation has been paid to many affected farmers, with more to follow. Efforts are underway to ensure all cultivable land are accessible to farmers. The Chief Minister highlighted the increased support from Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and announced a substantial allocation of Rs. 883 Crore in the budget for agriculture and allied sectors, including fisheries, horticulture, animal husbandry, and organic crops.

He said that the government has its firm stand for unwavering support for sports. Key initiatives include the ‘Sportspersons Livelihood Guarantee Scheme,’ with a Rs. 4 Crore budget, to assist retired athletes without livelihoods. Funds have been allocated for quality coaching, including hiring foreign coaches, and support for indigenous arts, games, and football clubs. Plans are in progress for the Manipur Football Academy and new football fields with natural grass. Upgrading sports infrastructure is a priority, with two projects under NESIDS, including a Rs. 40 Crore Multipurpose Indoor Stadium and a ‘Digital Infrastructure of Sports Excellence’ project. An allocation of Rs. 98 Crore has been made for sports development, excluding additional infrastructure support from various schemes, he supplemented.

Biren Singh highlighted the achievements of the present Government. In the field of education, basic infrastructure like electricity, water and sanitation have been strengthened. 51% of schools have electricity now. Solar panels have been provided to all 240 targeted secondary and senior secondary schools, as well as to 367 out of 434 targeted elementary schools. Potable drinking water has been provided to all government schools and 75% of schools have separate functional toilets separately for both boys and girls.

In the health sector, the State has been making good efforts. He emphasized that Manipur is steadily moving towards achieving the target goal of SDG 3- Good health and well-being. As per the NITI Aayog SDG India Index 2023-24, the score of Manipur has improved from 75 to 68 and is at 2nd position after Tripura among the NE States. He added that Ayushman cards have been issued to 6,02,268 beneficiaries which is a coverage of 45% and the remaining 4,81,445 will be saturated by 31st December 2024, under PM Jan Arogya Yojana.

The Chief Minister expressed concern of the government on the recent natural disaster occurred in the state. For management of the effects of these disasters and for provision of relief, including Rs.10,000 per household affected by floods, about Rs. 60 Crore has been sanctioned from SDRF, and an additional Rs. 20 Crore recently approved.  A proposal for compensation for damages caused by hailstorm has been submitted to the Central Government following a recent inspection by the Central Team.

Presenting “Demands for Excess Grants” for the financial year 2018-19, Leader of the House and Chief Minister (in-charge of Finance) N. Biren Singh, informed the House that an excess expenditure of Rs. 1729.49 crores occurred under one Appropriation during the financial year 2017-2018. He said that the excess expenditure was due to re-payment of ways and means advances.

He further said that the excess amounts over the charged appropriation need regularization as recommended by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The PAC has made valuable recommendations for the improvement of the budgeting system and for enforcing stricter financial discipline.

During the Question Hour today, Leader of the House N. Biren Singh, replying to a question raised by MLA, Khangabok A/C, Surjakumar Okram, informed the House that there is no such policy of extension of service tenure of the Government employees from 60 years to 62 years as of now.  He further said that a due amount of about Rs. 808.17 Crore for pensioners are ready to be cleared by March. Regarding the extension of service, the Government will look into its feasibility for consideration, he added.

Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, replying to a query raised by MLA, Khundrakpam A/C, Thokchom Lokeshwar Singh, said that representatives from the respective constituency may apply for the construction of a playground in their respective constituencies.

Replying to a question raised by MLA, Wangkhem A/C, Keisham Meghachandra Singh, regarding the reason for the failure of conducting Panchayat elections despite a gap of 32 months, Minister RD&PR, Y. Khemchand Singh informed the House that the State Cabinet has already taken its resolution to conduct Panchayat election in the month of September, 2024. State Election Commission has been intimated for fixation of date to conduct the election. He informed that the election remained postponed due to the prevailing law and order situation in the state. (DIPR)