RS 2149 CRORE DEFICIT BUDGET FOR 2018-19 PRESENTED

Rs 2149 Crore Deficit Budget for the financial year 2018-19 was presented by Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today. With an opening deficit of Rs 3149 crore, and presentation of a surplus budget of Rs 1000 Crore, the budget ends 2018-19 financial plan with a deficit of Rs 2149 crore.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BUDGET:

1. Construction of another Bridge over Brahmaputra connecting Panbazar with North Guwahati. The proposed cost of this project will be Rs.1890 crore and will be funded by the New Development Bank (NDB) with an implementation period of 4 years.
2. Employees Health Assurance Scheme will extend the benefit of cashless treatment in empaneled hospitals to employees which has already been approved by the Cabinet.
3. An annual scholarship of Rs. 2,000, Rs. 4,000, Rs. 6,000, Rs. 10,000 for girl students belonging to minority community studying in class 10th, 11th-12th, graduation & post-graduation, respectively. These amounts which will be credited into their accounts through the DBT mode simply on self-certification that they are unmarried and pursuing their education.
4. Zero Interest on Crop Loans, Farmers’ Debt Relief and Financial Assistance for Farm Implements. a sum of Rs.250 crore in Budget 2018-19 for City Infrastructure Development Fund (CIDF).
5. To incentivise the digitisation of the economy of the Tea Garden employees, the government has announced that Rs.5000 will be credited to the bank accounts of each Tea Garden employee who had opened their Bank Accounts immediately post-demonetization.
6. The state government will provide two-wheelers to top 5000 girl students who pass Higher Secondary Examination 2018. A sum of Rs. 25crore in Budget 2018 -19 for this purpose has been allocated.
7. Develop a World Class Botanical Garden at Kaziranga which will attract the tourists and put the state on the Orchid Map of the country. Rs. 8crore in Budget 2018 -19 has been allocated for this purpose.
8. Conduct regular recruitment drive to hire about 15000 new teachers to the elementary educational system. An amount of Rs. 8519 crores for the Elementary Education Department has been allocated in this budget.
9. About 6000 additional contractual teachers are engaged currently who are paid a fixed remuneration of Rs. 15500 per month. From the next financial year, the government will increase the same to Rs. 20000 per month.
10. The publication of the first draft of NRC featuring the names of 1.90 crore Indian citizens living in Assam is a major event in the history of the state and the country. The remaining 1.39 crore cases continue to remain under verification under the overall monitoring of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Rs. 91 Crore has been allocated for the carrying out of the NRC works for the year 2018-19.
11. ‘Pension Scheme for Journalists’ has been introduced to provide retirement benefits to journalists working for more than 20 years in Assam. The state government has already distributed individual pensions of Rs.8000 per month to many journalists.
12. 600 crore in the financial year has been allocated for the financial year 2018-19 for the construction of new roads and maintenance of old roads over a period of 3 years.