Rubbishing the allegations leveled by the Opposition regarding under-utilization of budgetary outlays, Finance Minister Capt. Abhimanyu on Wednesday said that the State Government has achieved over 90 per cent utilization of budget of over Rs 1 lakh crore in 2017-18 whereas the previous Congress Government could not even hit 85 per cent utilization of the budget of Rs 40,000 crore in 2010-11.
Replying to the debate on the budget proposals for 2018-19 in the State Assembly, Capt. Abhimanyu said in fact, the government had ensured budget utilization of above 90 per cent during the last three financial years. However, utilization of the previous government was 84.91 per cent in 2010-11, 87 per cent in 2011-12, 88 per cent in 2012-13, and 85 per cent in 2013-14, said he while lashing out at the Congress.
Referring to capital expenditure, the Finance Minister said the government had spent a major chunk of the debt on infrastructure development. Capital expenditure had been increased from Rs 12,787 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 15,374 crore in 2017-18. The government plans to increase it to Rs 17,346 crore in 2018-19, said he.
Giving comparative figures of budgetary allocations, he said the allocation for agriculture and allied sector was 2.79 per cent of the total budget in 2013-14 which had been increased to 3.56 per cent in 2018-19. Similarly, budgetary allocation for health sector has been raised from 3.2 per cent in 2013-14 to 4.14 per cent of the total budget. The present government has hiked the Budget for irrigation by 20 per cent this year whereas it had been reduced by two per cent by the previous government in 2008-09.
Refuting the allegations regarding downfall in the utilization of budget, Capt Abhimanyu said the previous government had spent only 79 per cent of the revised estimates for Health Sector in 2013-14, registering a downfall of 21 per cent.
The expenditure by the Urban Local Bodies Department was only 72 per cent whereas in Employment, Town and Country Planning, Technical Education and Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Departments, it was 75 per cent, 37 per cent, 79 per cent and 69 per cent respectively, registering downfall of 25 per cent, 63 per cent, 21 per cent and 31 per cent, he claimed.
The previous government had spent Rs 8,000 crore on health during its tenure of ten years whereas the present government allocated Rs 16,500 crore in just four years. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) Government had spent Rs 2,250 crore on Agriculture in six years whereas the previous Congress Government spent only Rs 11,000 crore during its ten-year tenure. Contrary to this, the present government has allocated Rs 11,000 crore in four years, the Finance Minister said.
Capt Abhimanyu also said, Haryana was the first state in the country to give benefit of the 7th Central Pay Commission to its employees, including those of boards and corporations. “Expenditure on account of salary and pension was Rs 15,461 crore in 2013-14 whereas we spent Rs 26,732 crore in 2017-18 and allocated Rs 28,898 crore for 2018-19”, he said.
He further said the present government had been successful in increasing total revenue receipts without imposing any tax. The revenue receipt which was 9.5 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2013-14 has been increased to 11.52 per cent in 2017-18. Similarly, the ratio of loan repayment to income was 15.39 per cent in 2013-14 which has been reduced to 13.93 per cent, he said.
Capt. Abhimanyu also said the debt growth rate of the state was 19.41 per cent in 2011-12, 22.37 per cent in 2012-13, 19.02 per cent in 2013-14 whereas the present government had brought down this figure down to 16.87 per cent in 2016-17. The debt growth rate has been 17.42 per cent in 2017-18 and it is proposed to be 16.72 per cent in 2018-19.
On the issue of ‘debt trap’, he said the state had better fiscal management and the debt was within the prescribed limit.
Concluding his reply, the inance Minister expressed his gratitude to members of the House for giving their valuable suggestions, and said those in public interest would be considered by the State Govt.