Imprint of election promises of Congress in Himachal budget: need for resource mobilization and proper management, trying to give message from small state to the whole country

After the formation of the Congress government in Himachal, the impression of the party’s election promises was clearly visible in the first budget. Assembly elections are going to be held in many big states including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka this year and before that the Congress wants to give the same message that it is serious about fulfilling the promises made before the elections. Then of course why not give this message from a small hilly state like Himachal. Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu tried to live up to this intention of the Congress high command.

Normally, a government does not make populist announcements in the first one or two budgets after coming to power, but in the case of Himachal, there was a different scene. In fact, in the year 2022, elections were held in 7 states of the country and Himachal Pradesh was the only state among them where the Congress formed the government by defeating the BJP in a direct fight. In the remaining six states, Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Gujarat, the Congress was defeated by the BJP. In such a situation, before the assembly elections going to be held in many big states in 2023, this budget of Himachal was very important for the Congress party and that is why an attempt was made to keep it completely populist. The importance of this budget of Himachal for the Congress high command can be understood from the fact that the major announcements of the budget were tweeted from the official Twitter handle of the party so that they could be reached to maximum extent.

Now coming to the Himachal budget… In his first budget, the Chief Minister has made many big announcements, but resource mobilization and effective management will be most needed to fulfill them. In his post-budget press conference, CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu claimed to have already arranged the budget for his announcements, but timely recovery of water cess and cow-cess imposed on liquor is not going to be easy. Cow-cess is already applicable in states like Haryana and Punjab, but there have been many difficulties regarding this fund. Repayment of old debt of Rs 74,622 crore on Himachal Pradesh is also going to be challenging.

13 new schemes, focus on weaker sections

The Chief Minister announced the launch of 13 new schemes in the budget. Made big announcements towards making Himachal a green state. Big promises were made regarding health, roads, education and social security schemes. A way was found to fulfill the guarantee of Rs 1,500 per month to women in a phase-wise manner, whereas by providing 30,000 government jobs, efforts were made to help youth and more than 70,000 offrol employees by increasing their honorarium. An attempt was made to help these sections by increasing the wages of MNREGA and daily wage earners and also by increasing the honorarium of Panchayati Raj and Municipal body representatives.

Government will take less loan next year

According to experts, a good sign for Himachal’s economy is that in the next financial year, the government has set a target of taking 2.5 percent less loan as compared to the current financial year. By March 31, 2023, the Himachal government would have taken a loan of up to 6% of GDP, while in the next financial year it was said in the budget to take a loan of 2.5% less. For this, the government has passed the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Amendment Bill 2023 in January this year. The government claims that in the next financial year, the government will take a total loan of 8,353 crores. That is, by March 31, 2024, the total debt on the state will increase to Rs 83,798 crore.

within budget 11956.01 crore deduction

In the current financial year, the Himachal government spent Rs 65,569.01 crore, while a budget of Rs 53,613 crore was presented for the next year. That is, compared to the current year, the budget size was kept smaller by Rs 11956.01 crore. The government will need an additional Rs 2.5 to 3 thousand crore to fulfill the new announcements. In such a situation, the question is being raised on the intention of the government whether it is trying to hide the actual figures.

Tomar said – Development oriented budget

Former chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission and economic affairs expert KS Tomar considers the budget of the Himachal government to be development-oriented. He said that keeping in mind all sections, efforts were made to fulfill the promises of the party. There is a provision for resource mobilization in the budget. Cow-cess, water cess, VAT on diesel and auction of toll barriers and liquor contracts are expected to fetch an additional Rs 5,000 crore to the exchequer. According to Tomar, the idea of ​​Green Himachal to get rid of pollution is the best part of this budget.

Gupta Where will the funds come from

Former Vice Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University Prof. Sunil Kumar Gupta says that a lot of announcements were made in the budget, but from where will the funds come for them? Its provision is missing from the budget. It was also not clarified about 30 thousand jobs whether it would be on regular basis or outsourced basis. More allocation was needed for the education sector.

CA Speak- Himachal facing serious crisis

Chartered Accountant (CA) Rajeev Sood says that Himachal is facing severe financial crisis. Of course, the government has tried to fulfill the promises, but due to these, there will be a shortage of budget for capital expenditure. The economic health of the state will further deteriorate. Now the employees should help in filling the coffers by fulfilling their responsibility just as the CM has reposed trust in them.