Chhattisgarh: Supplementary budget of Rs 4,341.52 crore passed

The Chhattisgarh Assembly Friday passed a supplementary budget of over Rs 4,341.52 crore, first for the financial year 2019-20. The budget demand proposals were passed with a voice vote. With it, the budget provisions for the financial year rose to over Rs 1 lakh crore from earlier Rs 95,899.45 crore. Replying to a discussion on demand proposals, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who also holds the finance portfolio, said legislators have often raised concerns over loans taken by the state government, which he wanted to address.

The borrowed money was used for waiver of short term agricultural loans of farmers and payment of bonus to them, he said.

The government has used financial resources of the state economically and this is why despite spending money on new schemes, it has been able to save money, he said.

Recently, the Comptroller and Auditor General had submitted accounting details of the previous financial year of the state.

Accordingly, as of March 2019, the state had revenue surplus of Rs 677 crore, Baghel said.

Being revenue surplus, the state government will be eligible to borrow additional Rs 1,650 crore in the current financial year, he added.

Despite a decrease in central grants in the April-June quarter this year, the state generated Rs 16,346 crore through various resources, against Rs 14,754 crore a year ago, he said.

“Neither the state has dearth of funds in its exchequer nor there is any economic crisis,” the chief minister said.

Earlier, during the debate, former chief minister Raman Singh said he opposed the supplementary budget because it did not reflect the ruling Congress’ poll promises.

The Congress had promised to waive farm loans within 10 days of formation of government, but even seven months later the loans of all the farmers were not written off, Singh alleged.