Madhya Pradesh govt presents Rs 2.79-lakh-cr tax-free Budget

Bhopal: Amid a massive uproar by Opposition MLAs, Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister Jagdish Devda on Wednesday presented the state budget worth Rs 2.79-lakh-crore for the financial year 2022-23 in the Assembly with the fiscal deficit of Rs 55,111 crore. No fresh taxes and no hike in existing taxes were provisioned in the budget.

For the first time in the state, a separate budget of Rs 27,792 crore has been provisioned for the children. The effort has been made to remove the blot of highest MMR and IMR as recently released report of NFHS-5, from the state.

The Finance Minister began his budget speech saying the aim of the budget is to make Madhya Pradesh 'Atmnirbhar' state.

Terming the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government a failure, Congress MLAs stepped into the well of the House shouting slogans and walked out towards the end of the speech. The Opposition claimed that the government has failed to provide jobs and stop cow slaughters. The Congress legislators accused state government of sending those farmers to jail, who failed to pay electricity bill.

Meanwhile, Devda told the House that the fiscal deficit is expected to be around Rs 55,111 crore and dearness allowance has been increased to 31 per cent, from the existing 20 per cent.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that opposition should stop creating ruckus and allowed citizens to hear the budget. "If you want to oppose the budget, you are free to do but do it after budget speech. Let the people listen to the budget."

"A total of 11 new industrial clusters will generate, with this, 11,000 employment opportunities will be created", the minister said.

Expressing commitment towards farmers, the FM minister said the state will introduce cow welfare scheme and geographical indication tags for crops. With crop insurance, Rs 21,000-crore power subsidy and other schemes, the state has offered Rs 1.72 lakh crore to farmers, Devda added. "Besides improving the existing roads, we plan to build 4,584 km new roads." He further added.

Announcing a global skill park, the FM told the House that the government was working for increasing quality education, a total of 360 CM rise schools would be opened.