Mitra places demand for supplementary grant of Rs 26,213 crore in Assembly

Kolkata: State Finance minister Amit Mitra placed the demand for supplementary grants of Rs 26,213 crore for 2019-20, in the Assembly on Monday.

During a discussion on the demand of supplementary grants, Mitra told the House that his department had spent an additional amount of Rs 26,213 crore, which was not allotted in the Budget presented before the House earlier this year.

According to the minister, his department had to bear a huge amount of cost under various heads, which were never mentioned in the Budget.

"In the current year the department has incurred many expenses which were not allotted in the Budget. The state had to spend Rs 1,124.15 crore for the relief and rehabilitation of the 'Bulbul' affected victims. The department had to provide a subsidy of Rs 5,440 crore for 'Khadya Sathi' scheme and Rs 700 crore for

the scholarships of students in universities. For 'Rupashree' scheme, an additional Rs 112 crore has been spent," Mitra said.

All the expenditures carried out by the Finance department during this period were mentioned in the list of the supplementary grants, which was placed and later passed in the House.

According to the norms, when the Finance department spends funds under various heads not mentioned in the Budget cleared by the House earlier, it needs to present a demand for supplementary grants in the House for legislature's clearance.

During the discussion, Mitra also pointed out that due to ever-growing popularity of various development schemes introduced by the state government, the expenses are going up.

The state government had spent Rs 789.52 crore for old-age pension benefits. Around 5.40 lakh people in the state have been reaping the benefits of old-age, widow and handicapped pensions.