Odisha chronicles 80 yrs fiscal journey in booklet

BHUBANESWAR:  Odisha’s annual budget which was only `1.77 crore in 1936-37 has increased to `1,20,028 crore in 2018-19, according to a special booklet on 80-years of Odisha Budget, released by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.The special booklet titled ‘80-years of Odisha Budget - A Commemorative Volume’ traces the journey of the State through the initial phase of turbulent reconstruction to the relative stable time of present day. “This compilation is an effort to present the journey of Odisha in these 80 years through facts, figures and pictorial representation. Odisha is the first State in the country to bring out such a compilation,” the Chief Minister said.

The compilation will be useful for scholars, researches and policy makers, Naveen said and added, “Budget is a mirror of the policies of the government. The 80 budgets presented since 1936 portray the commitment of the government to take the State on the path of development. Over the years, Odisha budget has showed innovation to achieve the broader objective of development and welfare for the people of the state.”

The Chief Minister said the State Government came up with a separate agriculture budget in 2013-14 and a constituted a separate Agriculture Cabinet in 2016 for focused attention to agriculture sector. Over the years, the State has made significant strides in educational, health and infrastructural sector, he said and added that successive governments have shown their commitments to address the developmental challenges.

Eighty years is a long time and phenomenal journey for the state. “We have achieved milestones during this period,” he said and added, “Keeping in view the aspirations of the people, there has to be a constant endeavour from all stakeholders to work together for a better future.”The booklet traces the reform process in Odisha which commenced with the signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Centre in 1999 and 2001 on a monitorable programme of reaching agreed fiscal goals within a specified period.

In 2006-07, the State became fiscal surplus for the first time. Towards making the budget procedure transparent, the state has in the recent years moved towards an open budgeting process.Speaker Pradeep Kumar Amat, Leader of the Opposition Narasingh Mishra and Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera lauded the efforts and development initiatives of the State Government. Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan gave the welcome address and Finance Secretary TK Pandey proposed the vote of thanks.