Experts share opinion in pre-budget consultative meeting
Ranchi, February 3: Jharkhand chief secretary Sukhdev Singh called upon the department to make a three-year planning strategy while expressing concern at lagging behind in spending budget allocation.
Addressing a pre-budget conference chaired by chief minister Hemant Soren at Ranchi on Friday, Sukhdev Singh said, “Budget is made but several departments lag behind in spending the budget amount. The reason for that is that plans are made after the budget allocations are available. Departments prepare DPR after budget allocation.”
“We need to do homework on whatever plan we have before bringing it in the budget and prepare a plan for at least three years. The finance department needs to review every department every six or eight months and the budget of non-performing departments should be cut and also there is a need to stop duplication in schemes,” said Singh.
“The schemes which can get centrally sponsored should not be spent on the state budget. A sound system should also be implemented for the management of PL account. We have seen the gruesome face of migration during Covid times and we have also taken many historic decisions under the leadership of the Chief Minister,” he added.
“Before we implement any plan, we have to find the revenue generating sources. Many such schemes have been launched in the state which will cost a lot. The situation of our state is opposite to that of other states because if we focus on infrastructure then there is loss of revenue, if we focus on revenue then infrastructure gets affected. On the other hand GST has limited our source of revenue. If planning is done then it starts late, as a result the cost incurred on it increases,” Singh said.
Addressing the pre-budget meeting principal secretary, finance department, Ajoy Kumar Singh said that the per capita income of the state is 40 percent less in proportion to the per capita income of the entire country. The growth rate of our state is 8.2 percent.
“Of what the state receives, the central tax is 27 percent while the state tax is 25 percent, apart from that 14 percent is from non-tax. Along with this, grant is also received from the Central Government. Commercial tax is the biggest resource in the income of the state. While the maximum non-revenue tax comes from the mines sector. Rs 9680 crore is possible in 2022-23. Rs 43,842 crore are to be spent in establishment,’ said Kumar.
The finance secretary said that budget portal was launched on January 10, in which a total of 729 suggestions have been received regarding agriculture, industry, information technology, energy, tourism, health, education, women and child development. A total of 16 suggestions were received in the conference organized last year for the budget 2022-23, out of which seven suggestions were incorporated in the budget.
The meeting witnessed distinguished speakers like director IIM Ranchi, Deepak Srivastava, Pradan representative Prem Shankar, Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Kishore Mantri, vice-chairman NIEPA, Sudhanshu Bhushan, Azim Premji University faculty Rajendra Narayanan, chairman Central Board for Development Studies, Sudipto Mundle, strategy lead partner of Government and Public Sector, Ajit Pai, vice-chairman Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur, Pinaki Chakraborty sharing their suggestions.
Many economists including bankers committee DGM Subodh Kumar and public finance management expert Prabhat Kumar presented their views.